Do you subscribe to the political ideology of Classical Liberalism, or Leftist Liberalism?
If you are knowledgable about political ideologies you will have no problem answering this question.
Classical Liberalism- believes in the freedom of the individual in his pursuits of wealth and personal happiness within the scope of state law.
Leftist Liberalism- believes that the state has the authority to regulate business and personal wealth in the name of the overall common good of the people and the state.
I believe this is an accurate description of the differences between Classical Liberalism and Leftist Liberalism. Please give me feedback. No vile commentary needed.
class member2008-04-29T13:10:26Z
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The classic....the one that says we have certain inalienable rights...such as the pursuit of happiness.
The leftist liberal is all about money and who controls it, NOT the well being of anyone..it's ALL ABOUT CONTROL, lots n lots of CONTROL
The philosophies of both modern liberals AND modern conservatives evolved from classical liberalism. Kinda hard to find any explicit royalists around these days. However, all three philosophies favor the rich. The modern liberal says that some band-aid programs can address the problems with capitalism as it is today. The modern conservative says that there is no problem with capitalism. Those that still adhere to classical liberalism say that what we have now isn't capitalism, and look towards a mystical and mythical "free market" that never has existed and never will. Most of the people who think they are socialists or communists today have unfortunately accepted many of the myths of capitalist society and are actually supporting modern capitalist liberalism. The American and Italian Communist Parties come to mind (*although to be fair the Italian CP is durn near conservative). Most of the people who think they are supporting classical liberalism, or libertarianism as it is called today, are actually just conservatives with unorthodox tastes in sex or chemical entertainment. Most of the people who think they are supporting conservatism are just being used by the ultra-right. All three philosophies, classical liberalism, modern liberalism, or modern conservatism, are unrealistic, based on an ahistorical viewpoint -- and are just plain wrong. .
I believe that the infrastructure of a nation in terms of transport, production and conveyance of energy, water supply, Health services and emergency services should all be controlled by the government and not for individual profit.
All other business would benefit from the stability and reduced costs to compete evenly in a free market environment.
Most importantly the insititutions that issue currency should be owned by the people and controlled by an elected government.
With regard to choice and law I believe that emphasis should be placed on education rather than policing concerned with peoples choices - Recreational drugs as an example. The government should provide stringent laws on the quality and production of such products and use tax revenue to support public education and support. The current prohibition systems clearly leave the business rampant, uncontrolled and tax-free. It is clear that we can not afford to police its control effectively. It is difficult to educate children about drugs because they are simply scared to talk about it because it is illegal.
Prostitution is another example it will never be prevented but at the moment it goes on tax-free in the hand of criminals and places both clients and prostitutes in serious danger.
I would say I am liberal but I have an appreciation of the value of centralised governence and also the dangers that over zealous centralised control can create.
I would say I am a Balanced Liberal.
People need to shrug of the propaganda that surrounds political systems and instead focus on their strengths and weaknesses then look how we can combine those strengths to form improved systems. I think political we need to evolve from the 2 Dimensional left and right structures and progress.. We are in distinct danger of returning to a system of governement that sees large scale class distinction in terms of wealth on a global scale. Unelected global groups are forming that have significant influence over the actions and policy of national governemnts.. This is a serious threat to the freedom of individuals.