Ed Feser reflects on how liberalism erodes the virtue of gratitude, yet Thanksgiving actually reconnects us with the politics of virtue necessary for building a postliberal order.
Feser overstates liberalism’s influence by treating a diverse political tradition as a single ideological engine of ingratitude. Empirically, gratitude varies more by social trust, economic security, and family stability than by political philosophy. Thanksgiving’s persistence reflects cultural habit, not proof that liberal societies suppress or require a “postliberal” moral order.
Feser overstates liberalism’s influence by treating a diverse political tradition as a single ideological engine of ingratitude. Empirically, gratitude varies more by social trust, economic security, and family stability than by political philosophy. Thanksgiving’s persistence reflects cultural habit, not proof that liberal societies suppress or require a “postliberal” moral order.