The state has grown gotten larger, its powers extended as the scope of individuality is also being expanded. The individual only comes into being once you have this kind of large expansion of an increasing centralization and empowering of the central state,. And this, i think, helps to explain this kind of odd paradox that's not well explained by our politics. On the one hand, you have the explosion of this kind of form of individualism. But on the other hand,you have the sing and extraordinary centralization of the state. These two phenomena grow together rather than understanding them as opposites.
Political Scientist and author Patrick Deneen of the University of Notre Dame talks about his book Why Liberalism Failed with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. By liberalism, Deneen means the modern enterprise--the push for self-actualization free of the constraints of tradition, family, and religion that typifies modern culture. He argues that both the left and the right have empowered the state and reduced liberty. He argues for a smaller, more local, more artisanal economy and a return to the virtues of self-control and self-mastery.