Western liberalism is collapsing, and a new conservatism is rising to take its place. The values that once defined the West — individual freedom, the rule of law, rational discourse — are now contested, abandoned or outright rejected.
This is not just political change; it is a civilizational shift. In the wake of this upheaval, conservatism is re-emerging — not as a reactionary force within liberalism, but as a distinct alternative to a failing order.
For nearly a century, the West operated under a common framework that many assumed was permanent. Since the Second World War, liberal democracy provided a stable system based on reason, scientific progress and institutional trust. These assumptions held firm for decades, but cracks in the foundation have been widening.
The 2008 financial crisis was one of the first major shocks, shaking people’s belief in the economic and political systems that governed their lives. At the time, many hoped it was just a temporary failure. In hindsight, it was an early sign of a deeper collapse.
The rise of populism was another milestone. Donald Trump’s escalator descent in 2015, Brexit in 2016 and Trump’s first election victory were all connected. Many assumed these were momentary disruptions, but the unraveling of the liberal consensus continued.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed deep fault lines in Western societies. In early 2020, China welded apartment doors shut to control a new virus. Soon, Western nations embraced emergency rule, closing borders, arresting people for walking outside and trampling fundamental liberties in the name of public safety. In Canada, the 2022 Freedom Convoy sparked a harsh crackdown, with bank accounts frozen and mounted police riding down protesters.
Even as pandemic measures faded, the upheaval continued. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) hiring mandates transformed workplaces and universities. Canadian laws now criminalize medical professionals who question a teenager’s self-declared gender identity. Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) is now the fifth-leading cause of death in the country, far beyond its original justification as a last resort for the terminally ill. The liberal order, once rooted in human rights and equality, now enforces ideological conformity through law and social pressure.
International conflicts have only deepened the crisis. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shattered decades of European stability. Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel led to public celebrations of terrorism in Canadian cities, with students shutting down campuses in solidarity with anti-Western extremism. These events have forced even the most committed defenders of liberal democracy to ask whether pluralism, tolerance and free expression can survive in societies where fundamental values are no longer shared.
The collapse of liberalism is not just cultural — it is economic. For decades, liberal governments promised that free trade, globalization and progressive taxation would create widespread prosperity. Instead, the West has seen skyrocketing national debts, rising inflation, declining home ownership and stagnating wages. Canada, once a land of economic opportunity, now struggles with record levels of household debt and a shrinking middle class. While progressives blame external factors, the reality is that the policies of big-government liberalism have failed.
People are turning to conservatism not just because they reject the excesses of progressive ideology, but because they seek practical solutions. The new conservatism is emerging as a direct response to liberal failure. It is not simply about lower taxes and smaller government—it is about restoring stability, self-sufficiency and responsibility. It rejects the utopianism of progressivism in favour of rooted values: family, community, national sovereignty and economic independence.
For too long, mainstream conservative parties functioned as merely a slower version of liberalism—defending free markets while accepting the progressive social agenda. That is changing. Today’s conservatives are rejecting the idea that liberal democracy is the natural endpoint of history. Instead, they are looking to pre-liberal traditions, cultural stability and moral clarity to rebuild a sense of order.
As the late British philosopher Roger Scruton put it, conservatism is a “work of rescue.” In times of upheaval, people grow weary of chaos. They abandon utopian dreams and instead seek meaning in tradition, family and a life well-lived.
Contrary to popular belief, liberty does not originate from liberalism. The rule of law, private property, stable government and civil society existed long before the modern liberal order. These ideas were refined over thousands of years, not invented by Enlightenment thinkers. The best traditions emerge through generations of trial and error, not sudden ideological revolutions.
The collapse of the liberal order is not just a political shift; it is a civilizational reckoning. The coming decades will not be defined by abstract progressive ideals but by the principles of stability, tradition and responsibility. The societies that embrace these values will endure. The ones that don’t will fragment.
Liberalism is not inevitable. What replaces it will define the next century.
Shawn Whatley is a physician, past president of the Ontario Medical Association, and a Munk senior fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute. He is the author of When Politics Comes Before Patients – Why and How Canadian Medicare is Failing.
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