The American Mind: Charles Kesler: Liberalism, Utopia & Government

Source:The New Democrat

Replace the words liberal and liberalism, with either statist and statism, or socialist and socialism and everything these four men were talking about in this video was accurate. They obviously, other than maybe Dennis Prager, don’t understand what liberalism is and what Liberals are. They see liberalism as a philosophy being about an unlimited state and superstate. That if people just gave up their freedom, or let the central state take it from them, everything would be swell, or great. Because people would no longer need to take care of themselves, because Uncle Sammy and his big government would do that for them.

Now, if you want to talk about the so-called Liberal Utopia, or Liberal State. It would be a society where the people would have the freedom to take care of themselves. Without big government minding their business for them and interfering in their personal and economic affairs. And no, I’m not talking about libertarianism. But liberalism, that believes everyone should be treated equally under law and that everyone is entitled to a quality opportunity to achieve freedom in life. And live their own lives and make their own personal and economic decisions with their own lives. And be held accountable for all the decisions that they make in life.

That government’s role is to see that everyone has the opportunity to achieve freedom. That means things like quality education for everyone. Including people who can’t afford private schools, which is where public education comes in. An infrastructure system, so we can all get around and our business’s can all get their goods to market. A regulatory state, not to run private business’s, but to protect the innocent from predators and prevent monopolies from happening. And a social insurance system, for people who fall down, or have never stood up on their own. So they can pay their short-term bills and get themselves on their own two feet.

Liberalism, when it comes to economic policy, is just about economic opportunity and freedom for all. Not about a superstate to take care of everyone, so people don’t have to do that for themselves. A superstate statist philosophy certainly exists. But that is not liberalism. Democratic socialism, or democratic statism, would accurately describe a superstate ideology that sees the role of government to take care of everyone. And views individual freedom as dangerous and is more about welfare rights than individual rights. But that is not liberalism. Which is about liberty for the individual.