Are we witnessing the death of American liberalism?

Certainly feels that way. In the past few weeks, the American economy has effectively become socialized. Rule of law has been suspended in many states, replaced by rule by diktat. Internal checkpoints exist between states, with some states trying to root out and expel folks from other states (looking at you, Rhode Island). People's sufferings capitalized on for political gains and essential medical equipment used as political bargaining chips between government officials.

It's a hard time to be optimistic for liberalism, to be sure.

But there is much ruin in a nation, and liberalism is quite robust. I do think American liberalism can recover from this in a healthy manner. But key in doing so will come from rejecting the extremism in the world, whether it be from the Left, the Right, or center. We must be the calm voices of reason, the heirs to the Enlightenment. We must learn and teach moral philosophy, political philosophy, law, jurisprudence.

The world is changing, but there's no reason the liberals cannot be part of that change. We led the way in the 18th and 19th Centuries. True, we lost ground to the socialists, collectivists, and nationalists in the 20th Centuries. But liberalism survived two World Wars, a Depression, and a Cold War. There's no reason we cannot survive COVID.