Adrian Wooldridge on Rebuilding Liberalism for a New Generation
JUDJ-Prepared Summary from September 16, 2026 | Can America Make Government Work Again? The Crisis of Competence, Populism and Trust. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the speaker.
In a recent America at a Crossroads discussion, Adrian Wooldridge, Bloomberg Opinion global business columnist, former political editor at The Economist and author of The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism, discussed how liberalism can respond to a new generation of challenges—from concentrated corporate power and distrust of capitalism to political dysfunction and the erosion of constructive public debate.
Confronting a New Concentration of Power
One of Wooldridge’s central concerns is the growing influence of large corporations, particularly technology companies.
Liberals of the 1980s and 1990s often viewed markets and private enterprise as counterweights to government power. Wooldridge argues that today’s circumstances require greater skepticism. Liberalism, after all, is fundamentally suspicious of concentrated power—and that principle should apply to corporations as well as governments.
He advocates stronger antitrust policies and greater scrutiny of major technology companies. His concern extends beyond their economic size. Social media and other technologies, he argues, can encourage addictive behavior, degrade the quality of information and manipulate people’s emotions and preferences.
For Wooldridge, protecting the independent, informed individual should remain at the center of liberal thought.
Fixing Capitalism Without Abandoning It
Wooldridge also acknowledges why younger Americans may be increasingly skeptical of capitalism. Corporate concentration and the cost and complexity of the American healthcare system, among other issues, have contributed to dissatisfaction with the economic status quo.
His answer, however, is not to abandon capitalism.
Wooldridge argues that capitalism remains an extraordinarily productive system, but one with dysfunctions that government can address. An activist liberal government can invest in education, expand access to healthcare, promote opportunity and challenge excessive corporate power without embracing a fully socialist economic model.
More broadly, he argues that successful political reform must restore a sense that people have meaningful control over their lives and communities.
Restoring the Culture of Debate
The conversation ultimately returned to one of Wooldridge’s foundational liberal principles: skepticism.
If no individual or political movement possesses unquestionable truth, disagreement is not something a democratic society should fear. It is essential to discovering better answers.
Wooldridge therefore argues strongly for rebuilding a culture of debate in schools, universities and civic institutions. Shouting down opposing views, he says, undermines the very process through which people test their ideas and learn from one another.
His vision of a renewed liberalism is therefore about more than rebuilding the political center. It is about preserving a society in which individuals can think independently, challenge concentrations of power, debate their differences and continue adapting institutions to meet new problems.
For Wooldridge, that capacity for reinvention may be liberalism’s greatest strength.
About America at a Crossroads
Since April 2020, America at a Crossroads has produced weekly virtual programs on topics related to the preservation of our democracy, voting rights, freedom of the press, and a wide array of civil rights, including abortion rights, free speech, and free press. America at a Crossroads is a project of Jews United for Democracy & Justice.