''This article discusses liberalism as a major worldwide political ideology, its development, and some of its many modern-day variations. For the ideology commonly referred to as liberalism in the United States today, see American liberalism. For other uses, see Liberal (disambiguation).

Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value.A: "'Liberalism' is defined as a social ethic that advocates liberty, and equality in general." - Coady, C. A. J. Distributive Justice, A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, editors Goodin, Robert E. and Pettit, Philip. Blackwell Publishing, 1995, p.440. B: "Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end." - Lord Acton Traditionally, what was meant by "liberty" was the freedom of each individual to do as they pleased, provided they did not infringe on the liberty of others. This is often called classical liberalism. Another form of liberalism, often called social liberalism, holds that freedom requires what is sometimes called a "level playing field", that for people to be free they must be free from the unequal power of those born to wealth and high social status. Attempts to level the playing field include anti-discrimination laws, civil service examinations, universal education, affirmative action, and progressive taxation. A third form of liberalism, now almost universal in liberal democracies, holds that the government should provide for the general welfare. This sometimes includes a dole for the poor, housing for the homeless, and medical care for the sick, all supported by taxes. Classical liberals often strongly object to this kind of liberalism, asserting that the freedom of private property takes precedence over the personal freedom that depends on health, education, and a place to live; they claim that private charity does the job as well, or even better.

Classical liberals seek a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on coercive power, especially of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports relatively free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government. Modern liberals advocate a government in which the rights of minorities are protected. Compare for the latter aspect the Oxford Manifesto of 1947 of the Liberal International (Respect for the language, faith, laws and customs of national minorities), Oxford Manifesto of 1997 (We believe that close cooperation among democratic societies through global and regional organisations, within the framework of international law, of respect for human rights, the rights of national and ethnic minorities, and of a shared commitment to economic development worldwide, is the necessary foundation for world peace and for economic and environmental sustainability), the ELDR Electoral programme 1994 (Protecting the rights of minorities flows naturally from liberal policy, which seeks to ensure equal opportunities for everyone). In modern society, classical and social liberals favour a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and equal opportunity. Compare the Oxford Manifesto of the Liberal International (These rights and conditions can be secured only by true democracy. True democracy is inseparable from political liberty and is based on the conscious, free and enlightened consent of the majority, expressed through a free and secret ballot, with due respect for the liberties and opinions of minorities).

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TalkLeft

Saturday Night Open Thread
Jeralyn Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:38:22 -0500
A survey of more than 100 retired NY police officials say they were pressured into fudging stats to make it appear crime was going down. The totals for those seven so-called major index crimes are provided to the F.B.I., whose reports on crime trends have been used by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to favorably compare New York to other cities and to portray it as a profoundly safer place, an assessment that the summary does not contradict. In Georgia, criminal defense attorney Mark Shelnutt, who was acquitted of 40 counts of money laundering, aiding a drug conspiracy, bribery and false statements, is suing the Government, using the Hyde Act, to recover his attorneys fees. What a nightmare the feds put this lawyer through, the article is just chilling. The Third Circuit, which will be the first in the country to decide whether the Government must show probable cause before getting an order to obtain cell-site locator records, is finally going to hear oral arguments on Thursday. This is a really big deal, and not just for criminal defendants. Among those in the case: the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy & Technology and the American Civil Liberties Union.[More...] The data, which are recorded about once every seven seconds whenever a cell phone is turned on, effectively track the whereabouts and the comings and goings of every cell phone user. Justice Department lawyers argue that, by statute, they need only show "reasonable grounds" to believe that such records are "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation." From the Magistrate Judge's ruling which is being appealed: "This court believes that citizens continue to hold a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information the government seeks regarding their physical movements/locations -- even now that such information is routinely produced by their cell phones -- and that, therefore, the government's investigatory search of such information continues to be protected by the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement." Michael Irvin has filed a $100 million lawsuit against a woman accusing him of rape. The snow storm on the east coast seems to be abating. Maybe they can send some to Vancouver in time for the Olympics, where there is a serious shortage. In other Olympics news, there is an official blogging and tweeting policy for participants. It's allowed so long as they just write about their own experiences. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.
ACLU: Stop the Criminialization of the Undocumented
Jeralyn Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:25:02 -0500
The ACLU has released an issues brief arguing against the criminalizing of the undocumented. It's both unlawful and harmful to public policy. The use by states and localities of criminal laws to go after undocumented immigrants simply for being undocumented is generally unlawful, because the federal government has sole power to regulate immigration. [More...] ...More important, the federal government's decision to prosecute more immigration violations criminally has diverted resources from prosecution of serious violent and property crimes. As federal prosecutions for immigration law crimes such as illegal entry have increased dramatically, with prosecutors choosing to pursue 97 percent of all such crimes referred to them, federal prosecutors have had less time for prosecutions for gun trafficking, public corruption, organized crime, and white-collar crime. The full brief is here.
GOP Health Insurance Voucher Plan Is Like The Excise Tax
Big Tent Democrat Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:35:16 -0500
Matt Yglesias writes: I was on the radio yesterday, for example, with a woman who said that the GOP’s Medicare privatization plan would save money by giving people vouchers to buy private insurance. [. . .] [W]hat Ryan’s plan actually does is first privatize/vouchers Medicare, and then “save money” by arbitrarily mandating that the cost of the vouchers have to grow slower than the cost of health care. In other words, with every passing year Ryancare vouchers get smaller and smaller relative to the cost of medicine. That’s just “saving” money by buying less. (Emphasis supplied.) I am not sure why Yglesias objects to Ryan's plan while supporting the Gruber excise tax in the Senate health bill. Both work in the same way. Both are designed to encourage savings in health care by encouraging people to buy less expensive health insurance. Or, to put it in Yglesias' words - "saving money by buying less." If Ryan Subscribe to Liberalism RSS feed