Tag Archives: classical liberalism

Contemporary liberals are temperamentally conservative — and what they want to conserve is a morally bankrupt political order.,,, A characteristic of neoliberalism? Maybe I was predisposed to democratic socialism; I always considered myself to be “on the Left,” even as a teenager. In any case, it’s become clear in retrospect that watching the liberal class respond to events over the past decade has been a powerful stimulus in my politicization. Which is to say, I didn’t acquire radical...

Backgrounder in the history of the development of liberalism. While it written from a Libertarian point of view, it is useful in understanding the historical background. For a more thorough treatment although still a summary backgrounder, see the entry on liberalism at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Where it falls short is assuming the John Locke somehow discovered the foundations of genuine liberalism, when the fundamentals emerged in ancient Greece and where treated...

Short summary. Worth read. Eric Falkenstein is a financial economist rather than a historian but he has done his research on this.FalkenblogThe History of Individual Property Rights Eric Falkenstein

Conservatives are about conserving and that means orienting toward tradition, that is, the past.  Classical liberalism was a product of 18th century thought, specifically "the Enlightenment." Attempting to return to the past in the 21st century, especially as far back as the 18th century, is a fool's errand. In this sense, orthodox Marxism is also conservative in that it looks to the 19th century, and "orthodox" economics in contrast to "heterodox" economics looks to the 20th...

Some interesting history. The Levellers were one of the inspirations for classical liberalism and laissez-faire. Libertarianism is a contemporary manifestation of classical liberalism, in contrast to neoliberalism, which incorporates a role for the state in promoting commerce and capital formation.Mises Institute — Mises WireThe Levellers: The First LibertariansRoberta A. Modugno

The relationship is a favourite of Marxists and even other leftists, and the usual line is: capitalism is inherently imperialistic.But is it? There are different forms of capitalism, and, above all, laissez faire ideology is not monolithic, and it comes in different forms.And it’s rather obvious that some of the most vehement capitalist ideologues are also the most vehemently anti-imperialist. Just think of Murray Rothbard or Ron Paul.For instance, just take Ron Paul’s comments in the videos...