As 2016 comes to an end, liberalism will be given a place on the roster of the year’s notable deaths, slotted in somewhere between Harper Lee and Muhammad Ali. In the year of Brexit, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, liberalism has been declared dead and buried. “The liberal pageant is fading,” writes John Gray, the dystopian philosopher, and “all that really remains of liberalism is fear of the future.” He is not alone. All around us, a “post-liberal” era is being announced.
在2016年行将结束之际,自由主义将会在今年的著名死者名册上占据一席之地,位置介于哈珀•李(Harper Lee)和穆罕默德•阿里(Muhammad Ali)之间。在英国退欧、唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)胜选和弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)大出风头的一年里,自由主义已被宣告死亡并被埋葬。反乌托邦哲学家约翰•格雷(John Gray)写道:“自由主义已经曲终人散……真正残留下来的只有对未来的担忧”。并非只有他这么认为。环顾四周,已经有人宣布“后自由主义”时代来临。