What is a liberal?
The Patron Saint of Free Market Capitalism is Adam Smith. In "The Wealth of Nations" which many people consider the bible of capitalist philosophy, he wrote "No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged."
In other words, when we care about the welfare of others it comes back as a benefit to ourselves. It's a fairly selfish ideal. When we treat others well, we hope to be treated just as well in return.
I believe that Christians call this "The Golden Rule". In fact you can say that Jesus was the first liberal.
But liberals aren't trying to make everyone in society equal. The goal is to give everyone the equality of opportunity, so that everyone has the same opportunity to fulfill his or her potential, regardless if they come from rich or poor, black or white, male or female, Christian, Muslim or Atheist. Everyone gets the same chance as everyone else. And if we deny one person that opportunity, the chain is broken.
This is the reason that "liberals" fight so hard against racism and the loss of equal opportunities. We know that the loss of freedom for one group means the loss of freedom for all. No matter what your personal prejudices might be, it's an ideal that has to be upheld in order for that philosophy to work.
Let's consider some of the accomplishments of liberalism in this country.
- The abolishment of slavery
- 8 Hour Work Day and the 40 Hour Work Week, and other workers rights
- Equal rights for women, including the right to vote, and the right to own their own property
- Child Labor Laws
- Equal Rights for minority groups
- A safety net that includes Social Security, Welfare, Medicare, all of which in spite of whatever abuses, exists to help people that are genuinely in need and without which there would be many more people in poverty in this country.
Conservatives fought against each one of these things. As William F. Buckley Jr, the Patron Saint of Modern Conservatism stated, "Conservatives stand athwart history, yelling "Stop"!" In other words, conservatives have resisted the kind of societal changes that liberals have fought for, the kind of changes that have benefitted our society and the people living in it.
This post has zero cut and paste. From my own words and memory of reading, this is how I see Liberalism.
Any comments?