American Reformer

Liberalism, democracy, individual Lockean property rights, and freedom of thought—these Joel Kotkin offers up as the elements of the lost golden age to which he hopes we may return. Indeed, he actively pours scorn on the more interdependent, organic model of society that characterized our pre-liberal past, deeming it one of the elements of “feudalism” to be shunned. Any thoughtful reading of our current cultural predicament will show that we will need something stronger than warmed-over post-war liberalism to escape the dystopian future that Kotkin so vividly portrays.

Passing socially conservative legislation can indeed create a real business cost. But that cost is generally not as high as the headlines would suggest. Social policy is but one of many factors that drive overall decisions by individuals and corporations. Perhaps abortion will reset the clock back to the previous era circa 2000, but that’s not yet evident.