> >Justin:>These (Manchester and New Deal liberalisms) are economic >liberalisms. I'm a political liberal, like Mill >and >Rawls.< > >please explain.
OK. Manchester liberalism is what we now call libertarianism, favoring a nightwatchman state and unfettered free markets with private property. New Deal liberalism saved capitalism by creating an admistrative state, lots of regulation, and social supports for the less well off under capitalism. Political liberalism is neutral on the best economic form. Its key idea is that freedom is a good, as is self-government. Accordingly it favors a limited representative government with elected officials chosen by univeresal suffrage and hedged in by extensive civil and political liberties. Its classic statement is Mill's On Liberty, a defense of people's rights to live without oppressive social legislation or social pressure that disfavors experiments in living (in Mill's case, living openly with his girlfiend, lover, and collaborator Harriet Taylor), imposes orthodox beliefs such as a state religion or adherence to some required secular doctrine, and the like. Political liberalism takes no position on the so-called economic liberties defended so aggressively by the Manchesterians; Mill was a market socialist, personally. John Rawls' revival of political liberalism makes equal extensive freedom the first of the primary social goods; he mixes this with New Dealism by restricting inequality of opportunity and ealth to that which would benefit the least well off. He thinks that leaves the choice between property owning democracy (petty commodity production) and market socialism open. > >In any event, the distinction between "political" and "economic" is bogus >and seems inappropriate to a political economy discussion list. It's not that there's no distinction, just that it's rough and ready and context specific. Here it signifies the neutrality of liberal governmental forms among different (socialist and nonsocialist) economic arrangements. As I said before, almost everyone here--you too--favors representative govt, univ. suffrage, extensive civil rights and liberties. In that sense we are all liberals. jks jks _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
