The environmental effects of a mass consumption society were largely ignored. Now, however, conditions have changed. There are sharper limits on the capacity of the state to promote the general welfare. These limits stem partly from globalization, which allows quick foreign competitors to capture expanding domestic markets, and which makes it easier for firms with international operations to avoid unfavorable tax or regulatory regimes. As this collapse has occurred, the white male working class has been displaced as the main focus of struggles for equality.
Firms are now more decentralized and varied in the terms and conditions of work they offer.
Career paths and rewards are more jumbled, and varying skill-requirements provide further divisions. Within the group of people who traditionally supported democratic ideals, many new concerns tug and pull, seeking dominance. To prevent that, an alternative future needs to be described, its values declared, and sides taken for its advancement. This will require a sharp break with liberal politics. Liberals don't believe that people of ordinary means and ordinary intelligence are capable of running society themselves.