The Intellectual Tradition Of Political Economy

The further development of industrialisation led to social and economic inequality. This led to a revision of classical liberal ideas to prevent the spread of ignorance and poverty. It is suggested that modern liberals have betrayed classical liberal ideas as they embrace collectivism and diverge from classical liberalism on issues such as freedom. However, it can be argued that modern liberals have simply built on classical liberal ideas such as its commitment to the individual.

The Classical Liberalist, would oppose any regulation on the economy. As they believe that those who are able to make money based on the principle of supply and demand already have helped the welfare of other in the process. Classical Liberalist’s understand inequality as an inevitable result of free competition, and actually see it as beneficial in the long run as capital is reinvested, to create new technology, employment and opportunities. If this capital were to be taxed heavily instead, many opportunities and jobs would be lost further adding to the inequality of wealth and opportunity for the poor.

One has to try as much as possible to try to preserve the rest of humankind from any evil that can happen to the other people. Neo-liberalism emphasizes that all being are equal and independent and no man is supposed to harm each other’s innocent life, health or possession as it recognizes all being as workmanship of on omnipotent (God). Moreover, no man that has the liberty to destroy himself and man should not have more than other hence encourage sharing such thing as power. For example, although people punish each other for transgressions, the offender has the right to seek forgiveness from the offended and can assist the offended to recover from the offended to make satisfaction for the harm he or she suffered. On the other hand, classic liberalism encourages the practice of individualism. For example, the essential feature of individualism from the elements provided by Christianity and the philosophy of classical antiquity was first completely developed during the Renaissance and from that time, it has grown and spread into what is today recognized as Western European civilization. Classic liberalism emphasizes on freedom and liberty hence encouraging men to develop their own individual gifts and bents. Whenever, small one man’s sphere is, he is encouraged to view and observe himself as supreme (Friedrich 7-14).

Some will say that both classical and modern liberalists possess a number of parallel approaches towards this

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].

Liberty and freedom was conceived differently by the social reformers and the proponents of the liberty of contract and laissez-faire. The difference actually emanated in the manner in which the two groups interpreted the suitability of the operation of the economy. While the economy can operate on the basis of capitalism where individualism and private property are the basis of creating wealth, it can also operate on the basis of collectivity, where communism and pooling of the labor and output together forms the basis of wealth accumulation for the society. In this respect, the social reformers such as Edward Bellamy, Henry George, and the Knights of Labor conceived the freedom and liberty to entail the rights of the laborers to earn better wages, work for a few hours and have a legal tender mechanism from the government that was not under the control of the banks . On the other hand, the proponents of the liberty of contract and laissez-faire like Herbert Spencer and Andrew Carnegie conceived the liberty and freedom to entail individualism and private property ownership as the basis of

During the period beginning at the end of WWII and the early 1980’s, there was period of liberalism throughout all aspects of American politics and culture. The liberalism during this era was referred to as rights liberalism, which was predicated on the idea that the state had the responsibility to protect individuals from discrimination. This directly deviates from the classical liberalism that was very common before the Progressive Era, which was based on the idea that liberty came from the government having a set role in society and never attempting to affect aspects of society it was never prescribed. Rights liberalism also deviated from the social welfare during the 1930’s in promoting the need for a more egalitarian society. This version

It was the government role to attempt to provide support for its citizens by overcoming poverty, disease and ignorance. Modern liberals defend welfarism on the basis of equality of opportunity. If particular individuals or groups are disadvantaged by their social circumstances, then the state possess a social responsibility to reduce or remove these disadvantages to create equal life chances. The effort made by both early liberals and modern liberals to enhance equality among human beings illustrated their full support to the principle of

For the purposes of this essay, I define liberalism as a school of political thought concerned with liberty,

The classical liberal ideology emerged as a result of the Enlightenment period, which brought about new philosophies, challenging the existing assumptions about the nature of humankind and society. Modern liberalism developed around 1870 as a result of both philosophical and practical changes, including mass industrialisation. Classical liberals argue that modern liberalism has broken the principles of doctrines central to liberal thought whilst modern liberals claim that they are simply adapting and building on classical liberalist ideas. This essay will discuss the extent to which modern liberalism departs from classical liberalisms by analysing approaches to the size of the state, democracy and the concept of freedom and aims to justify

The liberal perspective on political economy is embodied in the discipline of the Western economics (Gilpin, 1987). It emphasizes the individual interests, the freedom and the maximization of economic benefit. Economic

Neo-liberalism is a political ideology that suggests that ‘human well-being can be advanced by the maximisation of entrepreneurial freedom, characterised by private property rights, individual liberty, free markets and free trade’ (Geografiskar, A 2006). In today’s modern society neo-liberalism is widespread around the globe with various stakeholders offering conflicting views. Some advocates, namely the capitalistic portion of society argue that a liberal market is

The political ideologies of Bakunin’s Anarchism, Lenin’s Bolshevism and Hayek’s Neoliberalism all offer a critique of the state. Upon comparing and contrasting these ideologies a surprising similarity, as well as several differences reveal themselves. The lone similarity of the political philosophies of Bakunin, Lenin and Hayek is that the capitalist state is the protector and enforcer of property rights. Agreement between the three ends there as they all diverge on the issue of whether the state taking an active role in enforcing society’s property relations is justifiable or oppressive. Furthermore, they all offer contrasting definitions of the state and its’ functions. Another difference is what alterations should be made to the state for a better society and how changes can be enforced. Bakunin advocates for no state; Lenin advises eliminating the capitalist state and temporarily replacing it with a socialist state to usher in communism before having no state; Hayek promotes the idea that the state is a necessary evil that is always gradually evolving and attempting to better suit society. Hindsight into the shortcomings associated with Bakunin’s and Lenin’s ideologies, and the logic he applies in discussing the state as a necessary component of any functioning society make Hayek’s Neoliberalism the most practical political ideology.

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.