AI Summary
5 min readEzra Klein discusses his search for a revitalized liberalism amid rising illiberalism, turning to historian Helena Rosenblatt's The Lost History of Liberalism. Rosenblatt traces "liberalism" back to the ancient Roman virtue of liberality (liberalitas), which emphasized generosity, reciprocity, devotion to the common good, and citizenly virtues among elites. This ethic, predating the term "liberalism" by millennia, appears in Cicero, Seneca, John Locke, and George Washington's letters, focusing not on individual rights alone but on moral development to sustain complex societies.
Roots in Ancient Liberality
For nearly 2,000 years, being "liberal" meant cultivating character traits like gift-giving and mutual exchange to strengthen the commonwealth. Rooted in the Latin libre (free and generous), it involved freedom to voluntarily become a better person—making good choices for self and society. Roman elites, despite slavery and exclusions, designed liberal arts education to instill these virtues in boys, training them in rhetoric, history, and public speaking to foster citizen-leaders. Medieval thinkers Christianized it, linking generosity to godly behavior. Rosenblatt notes this was elitist—aimed at wealthy, free men—but demanded obligations from them, countering modern views of liberals as smug.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:00) **Intro to Liberalism's Weakness** - Ezra Klein sets up the crisis of modern liberalism amid rising illiberalism and introduces Helena Rosenblatt's *The Lost History of Liberalism*
- 2 (04:21) **Modern vs Historical Liberalism** - Rosenblatt contrasts today's individual rights focus with pre-19th century emphasis on moral character development
- 3 (05:34) **Ancient Roots in Rome** - Traces "liberal" to Roman *liberalis* and *liberalitas*, meaning generous freedom for commonwealth devotion
- 4 (07:26) **Liberality as Core Virtue** - Defines freedom as capacity for voluntary moral self-improvement, not maximizing choices
- 5 (09:12) **Elite Origins and Tensions** - Liberality tied to wealthy elites, cultivated via liberal arts education despite slavery exclusions
- 6 (13:14) **Lincoln as Liberal Exemplar** - Lincoln embodied liberal leadership by elevating people, not demagoguery
- 7 (14:00) **Purpose of Liberal Arts** - Education forms moral, freedom-loving leaders through classics, rhetoric for public good
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Show Notes
In the U.S., illiberalism is in power. I don’t think anybody really argues against that. But I’ve been surprised by how weak liberalism has felt in response.
Donald Trump isn’t a popular president; he isn’t making people want more of what he is. But if the forces of illiberalism are really going to be turned back in this country, I think more people need to be excited and inspired by liberalism itself. We need a liberalism that stands for more than “not Trump.”
So I’ve been on my own esoteric journey, reading a lot of books on the history of liberalism, trying to understand what excited and inspired people in the past, and how liberals overcame crises like the one we’re in. And reading one of those books, “The Lost History of Liberalism” by Helena Rosenblatt, it felt like an epiphany — that this was a piece of the puzzle.
So I wanted to have Rosenblatt on the show to talk about it. Rosenblatt is a professor of history, political science and French at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and in this conversation, she walks me through the history of liberalism that she uncovered, and the values that once lived at its heart.
Mentioned:
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
Liberalism by Edmund Fawcett
Book Recommendations:
Liberalism against Itself by Samuel Moyn
Liberalism as a Way of Life by Alexandre Lefebvre
Thinking With Machines by Vasant Dhar
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezrakle
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