S8 Ep957: (13) Peter Berkowitz examines two distinct intellectual critiques of the United States as it approaches its 250th anniversary: the postmodern progressives and the post-liberal right. The progressives argue that America is mired in systemic oppression and

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🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

(13) Peter Berkowitz examines two distinct intellectual critiques of the United States as it approaches its 250th anniversary: the postmodern progressives and the post-liberal right. The progressives argue that America is mired in systemic oppression and that its founding principles are the actual cause of its problems. The post-liberal right, conversely, views the nation as decadent and corrupt because it fails to recognize a higher religious authority. Both groups advocate for fundamental changes, with the right-wing critique specifically calling for the government to take a more active role in leading citizens toward virtue and salvation.
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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm John Batchler. I welcome my good colleague, Peter Berkowitz, of the Hoover Institution.
0:21.1	We're looking at America 250 years after the beginning.
0:25.5	The beginning was a forest.
0:28.9	It was said from those approaching America from Europe.
0:32.9	You could smell the forest 150 miles at sea.
0:35.7	It was that rich.
0:36.8	Today we are in interlocked highway systems
0:40.2	about to enjoy the benefits of the electric vehicle, we're told. 250 years of scientific and
0:46.8	engineering accomplishment. At the same time, the politics have been heavily influenced by our
0:52.0	European progenitors and by interpretations that are very clever,
0:56.1	and I need Peter's help to understand them.
0:59.0	Post-modern progressive, post-liberal right.
1:03.8	I've written them down as an acronym so I can remember them
1:07.4	because it doesn't come naturally to my brain to lock them in.
1:12.2	However, they are,
1:22.4	in fact, on a horse riding hard, announcing that the U.S. has a lot to do after 250 years to make up for its sins, its errors, and its blindness. I believe they both are unhappy with the U.S. at this juncture.
1:30.3	Peter, let us begin with the postmodern progressives. Who are they? What does that define? Good
1:36.3	evening to you. Good evening, John. They are by and large professors. They advocate a critique of America that they believe goes to the fundamentals.
1:49.0	They believe that America is mired in systemic, well, different systemic things.
1:57.4	Some say systemic class oppression. Some say systemic oppression based on sex, some say systemic oppression based on race. But the main idea is that America's founding principles are not part of the solution that is adhering to them as not part of the solution, rather they're the cause of the problem.
2:20.5	The language of the rhetoric of the institutions that supposedly protect equal rights, they actually disguise oppression based on race, sex, and class.
2:33.6	And so they have to be, those principles, our founding principles,
	...

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