More Headlines
- Economic Warfare and the New Slavery
- Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
- Elected
- More Smoke and Mirrors
- Confession of a Classical Liberal
- It is NOT Fun!
- Reader Feedback
- Thank You!
- Meet the New Boss: Same as the Old Boss?
- Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals
- Who Can Take an Acorn and Turn it in to Votes?
- Congress Gets Educated On The Meaning of the Second (2nd) Amendment
- Intentional Collapse of the U. S. Economic System?
- The American Flag
- American Patriots
Confession of a Classical Liberal
The term liberal has a much different meaning today than it did a few hundred years ago.
A good and fairly quick read about this at Belmont University is here.
From the National Center for Policy Analysis
| Basically, classical liberalism is the belief in liberty.
Prior to the 20th century, classical liberalism was the dominant political philosophy in the United States. It was the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson and the signers of the Declaration of Independence and it permeates the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers and many other documents produced by the people who created the American system of government. |
| For classical liberals — sometimes called the ‘old’ liberalism — liberty and private property are intimately related. From the eighteenth century right up to today, classical liberals have insisted that an economic system based on private property is uniquely consistent with individual liberty, allowing each to live her life —including employing her labor and her capital — as she sees fit. Indeed, classical liberals and libertarians have often asserted that in some way liberty and property are really the same thing; it has been argued, for example, that all rights, including liberty rights, are forms of property; others have maintained that property is itself a form of freedom (Gaus, 1994; Steiner, 1994). |
Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers were classical liberals.
It is interesting how the meaning of words change over time or are co-opted.
Conservative is another word that has changed meaning. Here are definitions from Princeton's Wordnet:
Noun
- S: (n) conservative, conservativist (a person who is reluctant to accept changes and new ideas)
Adjective
- S: (adj) conservative (resistant to change)
- S: (adj) conservative (having social or political views favoring conservatism)
These definitions of conservative really give little insight into conservative ideology as it exists today. If one considers that our country has been on the progressive path to socialism for well over 100 years, a conservative according to common definition would be a person that wants to maintain the socialist status quo. That seems to be true of most of our elected conservative politicians - they pursue the same progressive-socialist policies as their liberal counterparts just at a slower pace.
Among the "conservative" American people, however, the term classical liberal is more accurate. And the common usage of the word liberal more aptly applies to progressive socialists rather than proponents of liberty.
The true conservative, desires and believes in liberty as defined by the founding fathers. These ideals of freedom have been out of fashion for so long that they once again are new and bold - even characterized as radical and extreme!
The modern day liberal on the other hand, is resistant to change. The modern day liberal wants greater quantities of the same progressive socialist policies that have dominated American life for more than a century.
Confused yet? Try this:
- True Conservative = Classical Liberal (desires liberty)
- Modern Liberal = Conservative (preserve and continue progressive socialism)
- Conservative Politician = Progressive Socialist Lite (wants more socialism just at a slower pace than their liberal counterparts)
The meanings of these words have been turned inside-out, upside down: Orwellian NewSpeak and DoubleThink.
So, I am quite proudly a liberal - a classical liberal.
Another example is the words depression / recession.
Prior to and including the Great Depression, all economic downturns / contractions were called depressions. After the Great Depression, some "wise" policy makers decided it would be better to not call an economic downturn a depression anymore. No need to panic the public with the truth - they can't handle the truth!
Thus the word recession.
The talk about whether we are in a depression or recession is simply more socialist NewSpeak / DoubleThink.
Before the Federal Reserve and other government intrusions into private business affairs, our economy was relatively very stable.
Tea Party
- A Matter of Values
- What the April 15th Tea Parties Were About
- The Gutter, And 3 Lessons Thomas Jefferson Taught Us About It.
Candidates
Washington Watch
- Who Owns America? A Review of the National Debt
- Are Trained Terrorists Coming to a Neighborhood Near You?
- Health Share Unraveled
- Localism: Fairness Doctrine Renamed
- Cut the Purse Strings of the 16th Amendment
- Federal Power Grab: U.S. To Claim Jurisdiction Over ALL U. S. Water
- CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY
- Urgent Call to Action
- Is It Time To Boycott the Hollywood Elite?
- Criminal Complaint Against Obama
- Obama First 100 Day Blunders
- Health Share: A Letter to Congress
- Quarantine Plans in Place
Editorial
- The American Flag
- American Patriots
- It is NOT Fun!
- Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals
- Who Can Take an Acorn and Turn it in to Votes?
- Intentional Collapse of the U. S. Economic System?
- Congress Gets Educated On The Meaning of the Second (2nd) Amendment
- Economic Warfare and the New Slavery
- Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
- Elected
- More Smoke and Mirrors
- Confession of a Classical Liberal
- Reader Feedback
- Thank You!
- Meet the New Boss: Same as the Old Boss?
