The collapse of the Soviet Union once seemed like a great victory of the liberal order over socialist oppression. Today, that is no longer the case. From the left, it is criticized for the financial crisis and an unjust distribution of income and wealth. From the right, it is denounced as a threat to national identity and prosperity by foreign powers. This leads to bizarre alliances between the political left and right against a common enemy: the liberal order. In light of the enormous achievements of the liberal order, these attacks seem absurd. Why do people demonize a principle that has demonstrably contributed to prosperity and enabled a life in freedom, while instead calling for a socialist societal order, despite all political systems in which it has been implemented having failed?.