Humanity, we may imagine, in the absence of climate collapse, is likely to exist for many thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years to come. What societies of the distant future might resemble is something that we can only guess. But the idea that they will be much the same as today seems a bit far-fetched. One doesn’t have to be a full-fledged Marxist to recognize that as economic systems change, social structures, values, and institutions will change too. And since we can’t possibly know what sort of economy lies one thousand, ten thousand, or one hundred thousand years from now, we also can’t possibly know what sort of social and political values and institutions lie ahead either.

In light of this, the idea that Western-style liberal democracy represents the “End of History,” as Francis Fukuyama infamously put it, is more than a little arrogant. It is absurd to think that we in the West, at this point in time, have solved for all eternity the question of the optimal form of social organization.

Nevertheless, one might argue that liberal democracy is still better than the alternative. In the wake of the turmoil resulting from the Great Recession, however, and the ball-fumbling of government responses to the pandemic, cold water has been thrown on liberal triumphalism. Consequently, liberals now find themselves facing unexpected ideological challenges, especially from the populist right. The result is something of a panic, with intellectuals lining up to proclaim that democracy is under threat and fascism is just around the corner.