This sinister "Great Reset" stuff suggests we really might be approaching the "end of history" this time - not with the worldwide acceptance of classical liberalism, but with its decisive rejection in favor of "soft" and "limited" authoritarianism.

The new consensus spreading among Western political elites is that some issues must be taken off the table, placed beyond the reach of voters, "settled" - and thus enforced - by power that cannot be subordinated to democracy.

In other words, the list of things "free people" don't get to vote against or refuse to accept grows longer. The size and power of centralized government swells to a scale undreamed-of by the founders of a constitutional republic. Very little of it can be voted out of office.

This is all supposedly justified in the name of protecting what remains of democracy, and sanding the rough edges off of capitalism. The elites tell themselves they aren't really authoritarians - they're just helping "true" liberty flourish by limiting and nourishing it.

The people cannot be allowed to make choices that would interfere with the government-provided "rights" of others - in other words, the socialized goods and services everyone is "entitled" to. People must be made "free" from want, from insult, even from the need to work.

Whatever remains of free society after those authoritarian boundaries are drawn will become the new playground sandbox of liberty - smaller, but safer and more comfortable. All that is not steel will be velvet. All that is not demanded will be provided.

The elite will find just the right amount of authoritarian control to protect The People. You'll still be allowed to own some capital, provided you use it the "right" way. You can be ambitious, but not greedy. You can speak sort-of freely, but only about approved topics.

This is now the great illusion of the 21st Century, brought into focus by the coronavirus pandemic, which will be employed to kill classical liberalism by supposedly "proving" that the most important challenges can only be tackled with authoritarian control.

The delusion will be that authoritarianism can be tamed and harnessed to protect "free" societies. Authoritarianism will become the sleek scientific, industrial, and moral engine that pulls free people into the new century and beyond.

The political class will tell you this is a modest and necessary imposition on liberty. They're just putting a few dangerous things where your adorable childlike hands can't reach them. They're just requiring you to accept a few more points of "consensus."

The list of commands you cannot refuse will get just a LITTLE longer, as will the list of questions you are not allowed to ask, the words you're not allowed to use, the things you cannot buy or sell, the alternatives you are not permitted to seek.

Very Smart People of unimpeachable moral authority and unquestionable wisdom will draw some heavy lines. You will be permitted to color within them as you wish, using the acceptable colors provided to you. You won't be allowed to be dangerous or unpredictable any more.

In every respect, it's the end of classical liberalism - the end of universal freedoms and inalienable rights, of absolute limits on political control. Constitutional limits on what you can vote FOR will be replaced by lists of what you aren't allowed to vote AGAINST.

You may get to elect some of the deciders, but you won't be making the big decisions, and you will not be allowed to reject the "consensus." When capitalism is dominated by politics, risk is replaced by consensus, and reward by entitlement. It's "safer," and smaller. /end