How I judge liberalism doesn't matter. I don't call the shots. I am asking you to think about how most people judge liberalism. It's not popular, which you can see in e.g. opinion polls on various things. Can an undemocratic liberalism hold fast? Is it even liberalism at that point?

To be clear, there are plenty of ways we can improve on the American status quo that don't ditch liberalism --- such as constitutional reform for far more democratic voting systems. But I fear they are very unlikely because by the time we had the political will for such huge steps, there will be a lots and lots of discontent and the baby will be thrown out with the bathwater.

(In that example, I think constitutional reform is scary to many people because they think that will open the floodgates to eviscerating their favor parts of the Bill of Rights.)

> How I judge liberalism doesn't matter. I don't call the shots. I am asking you to think about how most people judge liberalism.

That’s not accurate. You are making claims about liberalism.

You have no privileged access to what ‘most people’ think, nor do you have a time machine that makes your predictions about the future special.

These are simply rhetorical devices you are using to imaginatively express your own thoughts.