Innate Worth Anchors Liberalism

Argues that belief in innate human worth (not just procedural rules or markets) is the essential moral core that gives liberalism its justificatory force; losing that belief leaves liberal institutions morally hollow and easier for illiberal movements to contest. The essay traces how liberal thought drifted away from egalitarian moralism and warns of political consequences when moral language is ceded. — If liberals don't recover an accessible moral vocabulary grounded in human dignity, public support for liberal institutions may erode and make space for authoritarian or illiberal alternatives.