There is a lot of talk about liberalism and grand misconceptions that liberalism is somehow a stepping stone to socialism and communism. Are there those on the left who believe in socialism and communism? Absolutely, but to me there is a difference between the left and liberalism. In other words one can be a liberal and not be a leftist and vice versa. Yes they are at times connected and overlap but one does not equal the other.
So what do I think of as true liberalism? To me, true liberalism can be found in the words of our Founding Fathers as perfectly showcased in The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution. These documents were written by great liberal thinkers (Thomas Jefferson and James Madison respectfully), were born out of the Enlightenment, and took up where the work of John Locke (quite possibly the father of liberalism) left off. These documents provide for the protection of liberty, individual freedom, and equality of treatment under the law for all (among other things). These values and principles are what I would now call American values and principles but they were born out of liberalism.
True liberalism believes in liberty, freedom, justice, and equality of opportunity. True liberalism believes that everyone in this country can attain their dreams through hard work, education, and doing your best. True liberalism also believes is providing for those who have fallen and need a hand up in getting through the tough times. This is what I learned in reading the words of our founders and this is what I believe.
Update: In some back and forth to a post on his blog, Red posted a link to this question on Yahoo Answers. I think it is fitting to this post and topic.
10 comments:
The liberalism you describe is long gone and existed before the LEFT (as in socialist communist left) took it over in the same way they took over other words like gay and abort.
I wondered in what world you thought of Thomas Jefferson as a liberal. He was for small government and total freedom of religion and less taxes.
Those ideals are far back in the rear view mirror of today's definition of liberal.
But you can try and re-re-define it if you want.
-red
and... you are aware that TJ was a Republican right?
The word liberal truly does not mean what it once did.
Actually, the Democratic Party is often referred to as the party of Jefferson while the Republican Party is referrred to as the party of Lincoln.
Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican. That is that was the name of his party. That does not mean he was a Republican.
The modern Republican Party was originally founded in 1854 as an anti-slavery party.
The Democratic-Republican Party if it were still around would probably be closer in thought to the Libertarian Party or the Constitution Party.
Fair enough otter.
Okay…a few things here.
First: Thomas Jefferson and the Republican Party
James Madison and Thomas Jefferson created the Republican Party, also at the time known as the Democratic-Republican Party, to counter Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Party. Hamilton is who I would consider the father of conservatism in America and his party was the first conservative political party. The party that Madison and Jefferson created is still around to this day and is now known simply as the Democratic Party.
This is pretty simple and well known history Red and I’m a bit shocked that you would make this kind of error. The modern Republican Party, as Steve pointed out, was formed prior to the Civil War as an anti-slavery party (go GOP) and one could argue that Lincoln, the first GOP President, was a bit of a liberal himself. The Federalist’s fell apart after John Adams lost to Jefferson in 1800 and was eventually replaced with the Whig Party.
You can read all about the history of the Democratic Party here, here, here, here, and here.
Second: Thomas Jefferson as a liberal
Everything that Jefferson did (with the exception of his horrific racism and support of slavery) was liberal in nature. His support and belief of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are traditional liberal doctrine as laid out by John Locke. His firm belief in God, with his skepticism of organized religion and belief that religion and politics should be separated (“wall of separation” anyone?). Those are just two examples.
Third: Modern liberalism and the “LEFT”
You are correct Red that much of modern liberalism has been taken over by those who follow the teachings of Marx (i.e. the “LEFT”), but that is not true liberalism. Also I think that real liberals (i.e. the average folks) believe in the things I’ve outlined and not in the doctrines of Marx, socialism, or communism. Has much of the hierarchy of the organized liberals been infiltrated by these Marxists (for lack of a better term)? Yes, but the same can be said about the organizations on the right and extreme right-wingers. This is one of the many reasons why I have called for both sides to cast off their extremes and take back their movements and ideologies from the ideologues.
In your post you wrote- "True liberalism believes in liberty, freedom, justice..."
Say what?
When was the last time you heard a national figure who is a "liberal" say any one of those three words much less all three words together?
JFK?...
I think you may have meant to write "true libertarianism...
Libertarianism is much closer to classic liberalism than you’d probably like to admit. Both were born out of the works of John Locke and both completely and totally promote liberty, freedom, and justice. You are correct that we haven’t had a Democratic leader use those words since JFK and RFK, but to make the misconception that liberals in general do not believe in these things is folly. These words can be heard in the music of great liberals like U2, the Dropkick Murphys, the Hudson Falcons, the Street Dogs, and John Mellencamp just to name a few.
This post is as much a call to liberals to re-embrace what it truly means to be a liberal, as it is to set straight the definition of the term.
What did you think about the information I provided about Jefferson and the Democratic Party?
I actually loved the entire piece you did on it, but had already looked a lot of that up when I originally asked you about Jefferson being a liberal.. back there a few threads.
No man that was the joke... I saw the connection with libertarians and let's call them Revolutionary war liberals... (see Ron Paul) thats why i asked if you had a typo...
Warning Sarcasm Alert:
So... I was thinking of trying to start a movement to change the meaning of 'gay' back to it's original definition... since you are into impossible tasks, would you like to join me?
I'm sorry dave, that was totally uncalled for.
-red
You made me giggle, so that was good. :o)
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