Classical Liberalism Relevant Today

Another area in which it is suggested that modern liberalism has departed from classical liberalism is freedom. Classical liberals believe in negative freedom. This is simply that there should be an absence of external constraints on the individual and as such they should be left alone to make their own choices. In this way classical liberals were heavily influenced by the natural rights theories of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson claimed that we were born with inalienable rights and therefore no individual or government had the right to take these away. Freedom from constraints is therefore an essential condition for exercising these rights. In practise, this has meant that classical liberals have advocated a minimal state or what John Locke referred to as the ‘night-watchman state’. The activities of this state should be limited to the enforcement of contracts, maintaining order and protection from foreign threats to prevent the state from infringing on individual liberties as much as possible.

The idea of Liberalism, especially in the United States, is centered about the unalienable rights of an individual such as the freedoms found in the United States Bill of Rights. In the book, The Strange Death of American Liberalism by H.W. Brands, Brands says that liberalism in the United States could only survive during times of war. The United States retreats into liberalism when there is a war going on and they need the federal government’s assistance. On the other hand, the book, Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals by Marcus G. Raskin, argued that there was no escaping from liberalism. According to Raskin, liberalism has not faded into history like many people think. Liberalism is important in the United States because it drives

Liberalism, in general, was an ideological movement that emerged out of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It embraced the ideas of individualism which were established in the Renaissance and Reformation era. The Renaissance period sparked a belief in the importance of the individual in society. It helped promote the beliefs of classical liberalism which gradually formed into the liberal ideology of the 19th century. Individuals that were waiting to get their individual rights and freedoms were allowed to finally gain liberty and power through this period of time. Classical liberalism developed

Neo-liberalism is associated with economic liberalism whose campaign support provides economic liberations, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation and promoting the role of private institutions present in new society. Classic liberalism criticizes the neo-liberalism objective of introducing liberalization to bring about gradual increase of wealth and freedom among nations, however, classic liberalism explains that instead of realization of wealth and freedom, liberalization resulted to constant fight proposals that threatened the progress of achieving wealth and freedom among nations. Neo-liberalism aimed to prevent and control monopoly situations such that if there are no bodies

Classic liberalism is a political ideology that advocates limited government constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, individual liberties including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets. The Age of Enlightenment was a cultural movement of intellectuals in Europe and the United States, whose purpose was to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted science and intellectual interchange and opposed superstition, intolerance and abuses by church and state.

Typically, liberalism is categorised into two separate components; classical liberalism, which was fashioned during the 19th century as a result of the industrial revolution, and the more recent Modern Liberalism which emerged as industrialisation continued within the UK. Although both divisions of Liberalism unavoidably overlap in attitudes and approaches regarding the theory behind the ideology, I believe, fundamentally, that clear tensions between these aspects of Liberalism are more evident when analysing this ideology.

Liberalism started with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Two of these ideas were freedom of speech and freedom of the individual, and kept growing from there. Liberalism is the belief in a small central government and no monarchy. The liberalists defended the ideas of the definitive rights of an individual’s liberty, equality and property. The liberalists wanted their government to be established on written laws and a constitution based on equality.

Typically Liberalism can be categorized into two different strands, Classical and Modern (yet some thinkers advocate a third strand that is referred to as Neo-Liberalism), each characterized by their differing and to some extent unavoidably overlapping attitudes regarding the theory behind the ideology and how it should be put into practice. Prior to examining how these relate to one another and before making any comparisons, it is important to give a definition, as best as possible, of Liberalism as a concept.

Classical liberalism allow an individual to use primary social value of liberty in the political culture that extent until liberties of the others disturbed. Classical liberal ideas often form the basis for opposition to the use of government to attain social and personal objectives. They stress reliance on private the free market to determine the best outcomes rather than the private initiatives [1].

It is worth noting that is so as long as the liberties of others are not restricted. It is from this perspective that the basis for opposition is viable as opposed to the use of government to attain social objectives. Classical liberalism focuses on private initiatives or the free market to guide and foster the best outcomes. From history, classical liberalism has fueled support for religious and civil liberties. Classical liberalism can be rather viewed as an embrace of an individual’s right to do his or her own thing.

Within today’s society we are commonly faced with the moral question, what seems logically correct vs what seems ethically correct. It is an inquiry that goes hand in hand with if people are born naturally evil, or if that trait itself is developed over time. However, as a whole the overriding debate is not directed towards human nature itself, but rather to what degree should the government really be involved in our economic system in order to create an accommodating society. Over time human nature has drastically evolved to what it is today, but what is still undeniable is that there has, and likely always will be a division among individuals. Those divisions being based upon class structure. The source given states, “Individuals are, by nature, unique and unequal. Efforts by the state to interfere with the lives of individuals will result in a restrictive and inefficient society.” This is a direct link to the perspectives and ideologies presented with the idea of Classic Liberalism. By definition classic liberalism is an ideology that values individual freedoms in the sense of religion, speech, press, etc, as well as supporting limited government involvement economically. This idea has been supported by many in the past, including philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and Adam Smith. The author of the source is clearly a supporter of right wing economics. They believe in individualism over collectivism, and like many philosophers, they also believe that government is only

Liberalism is a collection of political, social and economic philosophies that is centered around the rights of personal liberties, civil rights, economic freedom, controlled and democratic government and the rule of law. A controlled and democratic government is instrumental to liberalism. A controlled government is one restricted by the law. The most common example of this can be found in the United States Constitution. The Constitution has outlined the roles and restrictions of each branch of government while also setting a system of checks and balances.

2. Classical liberalism says that the state should only take over an institution to ensure that citizens can freely benefit from that particular institution’s services. Classical liberalism does not require the thorough enforcing of law and order to reach economic progress and equality.

Liberalism was an important concept but it also lost some of its importance in order to emerge as a new form. In the today’s world hardly any one speaks for the freedom and democracy

The central values of classical liberalism are individual freedom, equality and a free-market. The free market and individual freedom set out in classical liberalism are a strong foundation for a strong economy. Individual freedom and equality may be contradictions but they cause classical liberalism to be a constant struggle. This conflict between the two goals is evident in the statement “equality also concerns equality of opportunity…not equality of outcomes” (Maclean & Wood, 65)” which is a step towards equality while maintaining the importance of work which is what causes the economy to be more functional and it is socially just and proper as success in classical liberalism doesn't