Across the world authoritarians want to tell us what a ‘good life’ looks like. Here’s how liberals must respond

‘These leaders and movements promise to return the state to a core task that liberals are supposedly too embarrassed, weak or polite to perform,’ writes Alexandre Lefebvre. Photograph: Andrew Roth/Rex/Shutterstock

Those of us who live in liberal democracies carry an image of what a decent state should do. It should protect rights, grow the economy, maintain order, uphold fairness and arbitrate disputes. But on life’s deepest questions – what makes a life worth living, and what sort of person one ought to become – it is meant to show restraint. The state should not privilege one vision of human flourishing, let alone promote it. That is for individuals, families and communities to decide. To borrow the Minnesota governor Tim Walz’s golden rule of politics: “Mind your own damn business!”

Consider birthrates. Across much of the wealthy world, they have fallen below replacement level. Fewer children mean fewer future workers, taxpayers and carers, and more pressure on pensions, health systems and aged care. Yet when liberal democracies encourage larger families, through baby bonuses or affordable childcare, they generally describe the goal as removing obstacles and expanding choice. Crucially, everyone should benefit: gay parents, straight parents, adoptive parents, biological parents, married parents, divorced parents – come one, come all.