The Original Idea
At its root, liberalism is the ideology of individual freedom. It starts with a remarkably sane premise: people should be allowed to live their own lives, choose their own paths, speak their minds, and pursue their own happiness — provided they don’t trample others’ rights in the process.
It’s suspicious of unchecked power, whether from monarchs, governments, or religious authorities. The liberal ideal promises tolerance, open debate, rule of law, free expression, and protection from tyranny. It assumes that if you give people freedom, reason, and equal opportunity, most will find their way toward a good and functioning society.
How Flawed Human Thinking Skewed the System
Freedom of choice, as it turns out, is a buffet most people approach like unsupervised toddlers. Yes, some create art and innovation. But many use that freedom to join flat-earth forums, buy crystals to cure anxiety, binge conspiracy documentaries, or start businesses selling snake oil and Instagram coaching.
Heuristic shortcuts immediately stripped freedom down to personal entitlement. Freedom became “I can do whatever I want,” and responsibility was quietly edited out of the equation. The cognitive dissonance dial handled any conflicts — people celebrated tolerance while viciously silencing anyone who offended their personal sensibilities. Projection flourished: every restriction felt like oppression, every disagreement became a violation of personal freedom.
Liberalism became more about signalling open-mindedness than actually practising it. Entire industries sprang up around performative tolerance — say the right things, display the correct slogans, and you’re now officially enlightened. . Eventually, tolerance started tolerating intolerance, because no one wants to be seen as the person drawing boundaries.
Each side of the liberal debate became convinced that its particular brand of tolerance was the only valid one, while opponents were dismissed as ignorant or evil. Lazy thinking allowed people to adopt oversimplified moral codes like “be kind” or “don’t judge” — forgetting that moral complexity often requires judgement.
And, of course, tribalism eventually swallowed the whole thing. What began as an individualist philosophy fractured into rigid ideological camps, each certain that their version of freedom is the only acceptable one, while everyone else is a dangerous threat to progress.
What It Could Look Like Through the Nincompoop Lens
If liberalism was approached through the Nincompoop lens, the first step would be to acknowledge that freedom and responsibility are inseparable. The system would start with the assumption that every individual’s brain is biased, shortcut-prone, self-serving, and prone to overconfidence. Freedom wouldn’t be permission to follow every instinct, but rather a framework for managing your own nonsense while respecting that everyone else is busy managing theirs.
Tolerance wouldn’t mean blind acceptance of everything, but humility in recognising that most people are stumbling their way through flawed thinking. Speech would be protected not because all opinions are equally wise, but because none of us can fully trust our own certainty enough to silence others. Debate would thrive not as moral combat but as collective error-checking.
And personal responsibility would finally be treated as the heavy, adult task it actually is — not the convenient side dish to freedom that everyone pretends it is.
Commonalities and Where It Aligns with Nincompoopism
Liberalism and Nincompoopism actually share a foundational agreement: that humans should be free precisely because they’re flawed, not because they’re wise. Both systems are deeply suspicious of concentrated power, because both recognise that nobody can be fully trusted to rule over others without delusion or corruption creeping in. Both emphasise individual dignity, self-awareness, and the danger of moral certainty.
However, liberalism tends to flatter the individual: “You are capable of governing yourself.”
Nincompoopism adds: “You are — but don’t forget, you’re also an idiot. Keep yourself on a short leash.”