We talk a lot about “polarization,” but the deeper story is fragmentation. Liberal ethics elevate autonomy and procedural neutrality; over time, an overemphasis on these things leads to the thinning shared norms, weakening of traditions, and dissolving of the bonds that hold a society together.

As Nathan Pinkoski argues in Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Inside Policy talks, institutions then mirror the moral shift: the old state–society / public–private distinction erodes. Power is exercised through state–civil society “partnerships”—NGOs, financial networks, tech platforms—coordinated around a substantive moral vision (anti-discrimination, ESG, national security). That’s actually existing postliberalism – the consequence of the hollowing out of the bonds, thick customs and mores, and deeper philosophical and religious roots of western societies.

He notes the following changes:

– From gold to the dollar (1971): When the U.S. ended dollar-gold convertibility, finance stopped being a neutral plumbing system and became a strategic tool. That shift made it easier to use banks, payment rails, and clearing systems for political aims—abroad and at home.

– From government to “governance”: After the 1990s and 9/11, states deputized private actors (banks, tech platforms, universities) to enforce policy goals—sanctions, “de-risking,” content moderation, compliance. Neutrality gave way to public-private enforcement networks.

– Courts and agencies: Courts that once claimed neutrality increasingly set social baselines—expanding rights, reading in duties, and pushing liability frameworks that compel norm-enforcement by employers, schools, and professional bodies.

– Culture & migration: When shared norms thin, integration gets harder. Excessive migration has made immigration less about economics, because the default is no longer for immigrants to integrate. The assumption is that its pluralism and diversity all the way down.

Nathan calls this “actually existing postliberalism”: the fusion of state, market, and culture that steps in to enforce norms once hyperliberal individualism and neutrality has eroded them.