The Case for Liberal Pessimism: Rethinking Optimism About Education and the Middle Class

Every liberal knows the sad arc of world history since 1992, the sudden vertiginous rise of liberal hopes, the long, bumpy descent into the grim present and its populism.

Liberals have been far too optimistic for far too long, leaving them ripe for disappointment.

In particular, they have been too optimistic about the political fruits of education and the political consequences of a growing middle class.

Real pessimism is in order if optimism requires achieving utopia.