Liberalism and its Basic Principles
Liberalism has been defined in many ways in political philosophy. However, this essay considers it as a political philosophy that tries to promote individual freedom as the essential political objective, in addition to advocating for equal opportunity and personal rights for all people. This brings the question of what is the basic principle of liberalism, and which again, this essay identify as the arrangement of society in line with specific inalienable individual rights such as the right of expression, right of liberty and lastly, right of life. Also, the concept is of the view that the government policies ought to be in a way that they are of greater benefit to the larger society. One of the things that are embraced in liberalism is a free or open market, which should be done in accordance with the law.
The Two Aspects of Liberalism
Liberalism consists of two aspects, that is, social and classical liberalism. To start with, classical liberalism, it is of the view that real freedom comes as a result of the absence of state coercion or restriction of people's economic freedom (Pennington, 2012, pp.221-227). The concept supports the ideas of Laissez Faire, whose economic policy sought to make the government without any economic intervention but rather, intervene in ensuring that there is peace, economic freedom, and security (Goodwin, 2007).
Individual Freedom in Liberalism
It is worth noting that liberalism can be described as a concept that tries to focus on individual freedom. This freedom entails anything that a person desires to do, for instance, traveling or expressing himself or herself, both in oral or written form among many other desires. Moreover, the individual freedom may extend to include the freedom to worship or be a member of any religion, or anything that makes a person feel satisfied and fulfilled in achieving the desires that are considered justifiable or as human rights (Heywood, 2015). This brings the question of the place of moral values in the concepts of liberalism. According to proponents of liberty or liberalism, the freedom that is advocated for must be one that does not harm or inflict some undesirable harm, either emotionally or physically to a person. However, the concept does not embrace the idea of equality, for it allows people to acquire whichever thing they desire and can get, either with their ability, talent or money. This puts disadvantaged groups at risks to be exploited by those in power or with money. The fact that liberalism puts more focus on freedom suggests that there is little consideration of justice and morality (Jessop, 2002, pp.452-472). Most of the people who advocate for liberalism denote that it guarantees people their rights, or explains what the responsibility of people ought to be. They argue that people are entitled to decide how they should live, but not taking instructions on how things are supposed to be done most of the times. This notion further clarifies why we need to tolerate others even if they share different and opposing views. This is good to maintain relationships for it promotes empathy and the understanding that not everyone must share or hold similar views but what is important is to respect the views of others.
Liberalism and its Worldwide Influence
The concepts of liberalism have been adopted worldwide as the principle guideline for advocating for freedom or liberty for all people. Within the concept of liberalism, there is what is referred to as liberal tolerance. This is a form of tolerance where those embracing the idea of liberalism possess or imbibe on others in relation or more particularly in regards to gender, nationality, religion or region, creed and caste among many other aspects that people tend not to share amongst themselves (Galston, 1982, pp.621-629). Although it is often argued that those with liberal tolerance will always try to provide others with a platform to share their views or express themselves in whichever way they deem fit. However, this is not always the case as liberals will sometimes try to limit those with opposing views. They do so to make others embrace or share the views they consider ideal or appropriate to them. This is often done by the use of moral superiority to suppress opposing views. Therefore, this explains the different and often contrasting principles that liberalism and in this case, liberal-minded people often display to others. In one way, it may seem as if they share the views of freedom for all, while on the other hand, it seems they are opposing the same views they have been embracing. Closely related but different ideology resulting from liberalism is neo-liberalism.
Neo-liberalism and its Departure from Traditional Liberalism
Neo-liberalism comes from liberalism but has been modified to include other aspects. When explaining liberalism, one does not fail to realize that it advocates for a certain kind of economy where the government does not step in to try and control either the prices or any other elements that may be considered as government interference. Historically, such a model has seen the rise of the public sector and increased investment which some argue that they, in turn, benefit the public (Waldron, 1987, pp.127-150). According to proponents of this model, the government may serve the public well by either redistributing income through taxes or act in a way that it provides duties back to the public. On the other hand, neo-liberalism is in many ways different from liberalism but stems or developed from liberalism. Although different scholars have ascribed the concepts with various definitions, the common and most notable one tries to interchange it with globalization and advocates for a lot of transfer of both power and business to the private sector. Also, the concept advocates for the deregulation of the power of the government to control prices, so as the prices are market-driven (Stiglitz, 2008). Under neo-liberalism, there would be a lot of free trade, privatization, fiscal austerity, and deregulation. Essentially, the concept is for the private sector to operate within a given society.
Criticisms of Liberalism
There have been a number of criticisms leveled against liberalism, despite advocating for noble things such as freedom and liberty. The two notable critics of the concept were Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, who came up with the theory of Marxism (Held, 1993, pp.249-281). The theory provides insightful thought on both social and economic systems based on economic and political theories. It is often described as the theory that looks into the class struggle in the capitalist model of the economy, which is common in western countries. The two theorists argue that the main cause of conflict in society is the existence of classes in society, that is, the elite and working class. Moreover, the changes existing in society result from the upper or the ruling class putting in place measures that favor them at the expense of the working class. Therefore, the two thinkers criticized the concept of liberalism in a number of ways.
Contradiction with Capitalism
Firstly, the theory of Marxism is against capitalism. Although those that identify themselves as liberal or support liberalism may either be capitalist or not, neo-liberal ideas do not have such a neutral privilege for they embrace the free-market concept that is dominant in capitalism. This, therefore, places it at the center of contradiction with the view held by Marxism. The idea of Marxism embraces the notion of complete cooperative ownership of the means of productions and as a result, distributing the profit equally among the people in society. This is an ideal form of Marxism where there is a classless society or no-class at all. Neo-liberalism, on the other hand, promotes a free-market society where some are regarded as owners of the means of production while those of lesser category are to work for owners of the means of production (Larner, 2000, pp.5-25).
Reforms and Collective Decision-making
On the other hand, both liberalism and Marxism are of the view that reforms must be made through socialism. However, Marxism's views tend to be more community-based and hold that all human beings ought to be regarded as social creatures. Therefore, for the same reason that human beings are social creatures, the decision made has to be collective and the state or government be guided or ruled by common law. Liberalism, on the other hand, does not embrace the idea of a collective decision but rather, that each has its or her rights and freedom which must not only be respected but also protected by those in power (Beckwith, 2000, pp.1-7). There are times, however, that liberalism advocates for the limitation of individual rights for the greater good. For example, everyone is not to be allowed to carry a gun for self-defense for it may result in greater harm if the peaceful coexistence among different groups of society ceases to exist. Both liberalism and Marxism oppose each other in one way or the other. For instance, liberalism argues that there has to be tolerance of views so as all people may have the freedom they desire to live whichever way they wish. This contradicts Marxism which does not view society as functioning that way, but rather, as one that limits some views that are negative, thus, leaning towards a totalitarian society in nature. The positive aspect of Marxism is the idea of justice and equality, while liberalism does not result in either justice or equality in regards to the socio-economic status of the society.
References
Beckwith, F.J., 2000. Deconstructing liberal tolerance. Christian Research Journal, 22(3), pp.1-7.
Galston, W., 1982. Defending liberalism. American Political Science Review, 76(03), pp.621-629.
Goodwin, B., 2007. Using political ideas. John Wiley " Sons.
Held, D., 1993. Liberalism, Marxism, and democracy. Theory and Society, 22(2), pp.249-281.
Heywood, A., 2015. Political theory: an introduction. Palgrave Macmillan.
Jessop, B., 2002. Liberalism, neoliberalism, and urban governance: A state–theoretical perspective. Antipode, 34(3), pp.452-472.
Larner, W., 2000. Neo-liberalismi policy, ideology, governmentality. Studies in political economy, 63(1), pp.5-25.
Pennington, M., 2012. 221 Robust Political Economy. Classical Liberalism and the Future of Public Policy. PRACTICE, 36(2), pp.221-227.
Stiglitz, J., 2008. The end of neo-liberalism?. Project Syndicate, 7.
Waldron, J., 1987. Theoretical foundations of liberalism. The Philosophical Quarterly (1950-), 37(147), pp.127-150.
