Classical Liberalism
My record of being pretty erratic in posting to this blog has continued. So I am taking a few moments during my lunch break to sort through all the half-written posts sitting on Blogger.
Sometime ago I noticed a debate had broken out on one or two Lib Dem blogs about the nature of classical liberalism. I can’t remember which and I have got time to look for them now. But I had started on writing a contribution on that subject. It turned out not to be entirely serious, but I still find it mildly amusing and I hope others may find it amusing too. So here is my short, but not entirely reliable, guide to understanding the use of the term “classical liberalism”.
What they say;
“We are classical liberals because we believe in those values of the great British liberal tradition, such as freedom, enterprise and sound finance, before that tradition became tainted by the false and dangerous approach of welfarism.”
What they mean;
“We are classical liberals because we want to be liberals but we work in the City, or have friends who work in the City, and can’t really be associated with a bunch of long-haired dope smoking hippies or people who work in the…urgh…public sector.”
What they are really saying;
“Look, alright, we really are conservatives, but we are, you know, a better sort of conservative!”
This content was originally posted on my old Process Guy blog.
2 Comments
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lolz, too true. I think the original post your looking for was on libdem voice, I remember writing the original article!
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Typical prejudice and spin. You suggest that in order to support free markets, one must be wealthy and selfish, and therefore actually a conservative. If one supports welfare state, then s/he must selfless, no matter how wealthy or poor s/he is, a real liberal…
Well, believe it or not, I happen to be low-income, not working at City at all, and barely gaining my bread. Sometimes hardly even that. And still I’m supporting free markets.
But obviously the possibility, that people, who don’t support the same policies you do, could have a selfless motive, or the thought that the policies that you support might actually be the wrong ones in order to actually achieve some real welfare for those worse off, hasn’t even crossed your mind. You like big, expensive gestures, never mind the results.