Quickie Post #2: Whatever happened to classical liberalism?
November 24, 2009
Classical liberalism: a political philosophy that places high value on individual freedom based on a belief in natural rights that exist independent of government. In its pure form, for example, in contemporary libertarian thought, it holds that the best government is minimal in scope, providing security, but promoting laissez-faire policies towards morality, religion, the economy, and the rest of social life.
It seems to me that classical liberalism is not the same “liberalism” we recognize today. In fact, its definition is actually closer to that of conservatism and is pretty much identical to libertarianism, which is the category I place myself in. I just want to know one thing. How the hell did we get today’s liberalism out of its classical form? It just seems like modern liberal views and classical liberal views are… I don’t know… the opposite? With the exception of social freedoms. Shouldn’t we at least change the name, seeing as a classical liberal and a modern liberal would likely go head to head in a cage match these days? I mean, I have argued with liberals before, and it seems like they very strongly disagree with my economically conservative viewpoints. But it seems to me that if they were the same liberal that existed when liberalism began, they wouldn’t be disagreeing with me. They’d be high-fiving me. I don’t care if they don’t agree with me, I’m just saying.
More on political philosophies later.
Classical liberalism definition
