wayneL
VIVA LA LIBERTAD, CARAJO!
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From the Fraser thread:
There is no word in politics (with the possible exception of "Keynesian") that has been more bastardized than the word "liberal".
In the US the term is used to denote the authoritarian left (aka social democratism), while in Oz it is used to denote the authoritarian right (aka conservatism).
In the UK, the term survives in it's proper usage only with true liberals and libertarians of which there is a large minority. Because of yet another quirk of politics it has become enmeshed with the evil of social democratism.
So what is a true liberal?
The root is the Latin "liber" which means "free", hence the word "libertarian".
In political philosophy the meaning has become muddied. A good article from Stanford here: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberalism/ details the evolution from classical liberalism, to the current "new" liberalism (as opposed to the so-called neo-liberals).
Confusingly, classical liberal economics (AKA the Austrian school) has been identified with conservatism whereas the socialist Keynesianism identified with liberalism. Von Mises and Hayek were actually liberals/libertarians.
People often confuse economic liberalism with social liberalism, whereas these are two distinct areas. Conservatives are often socially authoritarian and economically liberal, with Social Democrats often socially liberal and economically authoritarian.
The upshot is that "liberalism" has become somewhat confusing as to what it actually means.
A "true" liberal party might mean vastly different things to different people.
Discuss.
There is no word in politics (with the possible exception of "Keynesian") that has been more bastardized than the word "liberal".
In the US the term is used to denote the authoritarian left (aka social democratism), while in Oz it is used to denote the authoritarian right (aka conservatism).
In the UK, the term survives in it's proper usage only with true liberals and libertarians of which there is a large minority. Because of yet another quirk of politics it has become enmeshed with the evil of social democratism.
So what is a true liberal?
The root is the Latin "liber" which means "free", hence the word "libertarian".
In political philosophy the meaning has become muddied. A good article from Stanford here: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberalism/ details the evolution from classical liberalism, to the current "new" liberalism (as opposed to the so-called neo-liberals).
Confusingly, classical liberal economics (AKA the Austrian school) has been identified with conservatism whereas the socialist Keynesianism identified with liberalism. Von Mises and Hayek were actually liberals/libertarians.
People often confuse economic liberalism with social liberalism, whereas these are two distinct areas. Conservatives are often socially authoritarian and economically liberal, with Social Democrats often socially liberal and economically authoritarian.
The upshot is that "liberalism" has become somewhat confusing as to what it actually means.
A "true" liberal party might mean vastly different things to different people.
Discuss.