Something I've been thinking about for a few months, trying to now put it into words.

We see these things and wonder "where and when did liberalism go wrong? Because it wasn't always like this" And a lot of people reply that "this was always its end goal", and I think it's true that this is one possible end state for the ideology but isn't necessarily the only one. Liberalism's principles are vague and quite malleable, and can take many forms.

The liberalism of the past was dominated by masculine traits: the desire to excel, explore, and conquer. Organizations were hierarchical and run by individuals. Liberalism was a tool to those ends but was not an end itself. Which placed a limit on the ideology: if the tool is doing more harm than good for a particular application, you don't use it for that application. This form of liberalism is embodied by someone like Picard in TNG.

Modern liberalism is dominated by feminine traits: the desire to conform and get along. Organizations are flat and run by committee. Liberalism becomes an end unto itself, and as a consequence it has no limit. This is embodied by the HR department and DIE committee. The BAP sphere of the internet calls this the "Longhouse".

When seen though this lens, I believe the question of "where did liberalism go wrong?" becomes quite clear and obvious: when women started getting more involved in politics, and the masculine started to become subordinate to the feminine.