"Liberals demand that the social order should in principle be capable of explaining itself at the tribunal of each person's understanding." Jeremy Waldron
I have often tried to explain the liberal point of view only to be met with conservative / libertarian rhetoric about giveaways, lazy people, big government, and of course taxes. Again today with Obama's election the same naysayers are raising their voices in a unified cry against the party democratically elected by the American people. The same loud cries came when Clinton won, and foolishly he gave them fodder for their moral machine gun.
As the libertarians, conservatives, and republicans again raise their voices in a crescendo of negativity about any issue they define as government help, one has to wonder where they were these last eight years as America compromised its most cherished values and moved closer to a nation of mostly have nots. What are their values, for certainly few would argue that George W. Bush accomplished anything more than debt and death.
So for all the foes of progress I post this excerpt from the Boston Review, an excellent article on an ideology that from our founders, to Lincoln, FDR, and LBJ contains within it the ideas that move us forward.
"..."the content of a liberal political conception of justice is given by three main features:
1. a specification of basic rights, liberties and opportunities (of a kind familiar from constitutional democratic regimes);
2. an assignment of special priority to those rights, liberties and opportunities, especially with respect of claims of the general good and perfectionist values; and
3. measures assuring to all citizens adequate all-purpose means to make effective use of their liberties and opportunities.
These [three] elements can be understood in different ways, so that there are many variant liberalisms.""
"First, to believe in the equality and priority of basic personal and political liberties; to be skeptical as a corollary about paternalism, moralism, and perfectionism; to embrace an ideal of equality of opportunity and an assurance of adequate resources for all: these mark out a distinctive family of political views. Those three points are not common ground that we political liberals share with fascists; communitarians; traditionalists of various kinds; Stalinists; suffocating, oxygen-depleting moralists; believers in a confessional state (whatever the confession); or adherents to anti-state, anarchist libertarianism. We may be dull, but we are dull from our own distinctive principles."
http://bostonreview.net/BRwebonly/cohen2.php
Book mentioned in article.
Amazon.com: The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy: Albert O. Hirschman: Books
I have often tried to explain the liberal point of view only to be met with conservative / libertarian rhetoric about giveaways, lazy people, big government, and of course taxes. Again today with Obama's election the same naysayers are raising their voices in a unified cry against the party democratically elected by the American people. The same loud cries came when Clinton won, and foolishly he gave them fodder for their moral machine gun.
As the libertarians, conservatives, and republicans again raise their voices in a crescendo of negativity about any issue they define as government help, one has to wonder where they were these last eight years as America compromised its most cherished values and moved closer to a nation of mostly have nots. What are their values, for certainly few would argue that George W. Bush accomplished anything more than debt and death.
So for all the foes of progress I post this excerpt from the Boston Review, an excellent article on an ideology that from our founders, to Lincoln, FDR, and LBJ contains within it the ideas that move us forward.
"..."the content of a liberal political conception of justice is given by three main features:
1. a specification of basic rights, liberties and opportunities (of a kind familiar from constitutional democratic regimes);
2. an assignment of special priority to those rights, liberties and opportunities, especially with respect of claims of the general good and perfectionist values; and
3. measures assuring to all citizens adequate all-purpose means to make effective use of their liberties and opportunities.
These [three] elements can be understood in different ways, so that there are many variant liberalisms.""
"First, to believe in the equality and priority of basic personal and political liberties; to be skeptical as a corollary about paternalism, moralism, and perfectionism; to embrace an ideal of equality of opportunity and an assurance of adequate resources for all: these mark out a distinctive family of political views. Those three points are not common ground that we political liberals share with fascists; communitarians; traditionalists of various kinds; Stalinists; suffocating, oxygen-depleting moralists; believers in a confessional state (whatever the confession); or adherents to anti-state, anarchist libertarianism. We may be dull, but we are dull from our own distinctive principles."
http://bostonreview.net/BRwebonly/cohen2.php
Book mentioned in article.
Amazon.com: The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy: Albert O. Hirschman: Books
