American political ideologies part 1: Liberalism

There is little question that the dominate political ideology in American politics today is what is called Liberalism-it has taken over the Democratic party, and proponents of it currently hold the highest political seats in our country: President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate majority leader Harry Reid are all Democrats, and all claim to be Liberals. On it's face, being "liberal" is a good thing-originally it stood for a persons sovereign right to their liberty against authortative governments-or any government, or other, institution which tried, through law or other means, to limit a person's liberty. The problem with modern Liberalism is that it has nothing to do with what Liberalism actually stands for...


To be specific, American Liberalism is based on the work On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill. Throughout the work, Mill struggles with his belief that a person has a right to their liberty from the authority of governments, against his belief of utilitarianism-which is liberty's exact opposite, and 19th century's American version of socialism. Liberalism, true liberalism, is about an individual's right, and the responsibility of excercizing that right, in society, of their soveriegn liberty from government. True, governments are necessary, but they are a necessary "evil", truly only needed to protect the citizens who agree to be ruled by them, for protection from themselves and outside forces, and for the providing of those services which private enterprise and individuals prove to not be able to provide better for themselves. A close examination of today's Liberals-those who claim to be followers of Liberalism-shows just how far from Liberalism today's followers are, and how they are more Socialists, or Utilitarianists, than followers of Liberalism.


When studying the works of Mill, and particularly On Liberty, it is obvious that the founder of what could, today, be called Liberalism, would cringe at what it has become. One need look no further than what followers of Liberalism today support: government involvement nearly every aspect of an individuals life.

"Every function superadded to those already excersized by the government,
causes its influence over hopes and fears to be more widely diffused, and
converts, more and more, the active and ambitious part of the public into
hangers-on of the government, or of some party which aims at becoming the
government."

These are the words of Mill as it relates directly to allowing government-of any level-to have more and more say, over more and more aspects, of our society; and todays Liberals in America are doing exactly what he warns against by supporting things like government mandated, and provided for, health care; goverment bail outs of companies deemed "to big to fail"; the printing off and buying up of currency to support programs and spending sprees by our Federal Government on programs and agencies we as a nation have no true need for; further "benefits" for the those said to be living below the poverty level; the Supreme Court broadly interrupting the Constituion so as to allow for broader and broader legislative policy from Congress. Even worse is that all of these things are leading American society and culture down a path that is decidedly based on Socialism.

There are many opinions and theories about what truly constitutes Socialism, but all of them are based around-to some extent-government ownership, and control, of all private industry; and society based loosely around a 2 class structure: the "haves" and "have nots".

Our Constitution places very strict guidelines on how much influence the Federal Government can (is supposed too) have over our economy and society, limiting it to 18 or 19 very specific things and, despite an improper ruling by the Supreme Court in McCulloch vs. Maryland in 1819, our Federal Government actually does not have the authority to pass any law that it wants. Thanks in large part to that ruling, Congress, with the support of modern Liberalism, has all the support it has ever needed over the last 2 centuries to attack the Constitution, weakening its built in protections the people once had against Government, while at the same time expanding their power over us all.


On top of its political influences, Liberalism has also had a striking effect on the culture of American society. At the core of modern Liberalism (it must be specified as such because it now resembles very little of what it was originally based on) is a mentality based on avoiding conflict, harm and the desire to make life "easy" for every one-particularly our children. Originally born out of the great depression/World War II generation, this last ideal-that of "making life easier for the next generation"-had good intentions: that generation, perhaps, saw the greatest hardships of any other generation of Americans-besides those who first settled our land in the 16th-17th centuries. Originally meant as a rallying cry to prevent things like another depression and world war from happening through hard work, family values and education, "making life easier"-in the world of Modern Liberalism-has become an entitlement and pacifists mentality. Things such "Obamacare" and the welfare state represent the entitlement aspect of this mentality, while the abolishment of traditional school yard activities like dodge ball, stripping a parent from their right to properly discipline their children while at the same time allowing kids to avoid anything they think is "hard"; as well as allowing basic educational institutions to grade on "bell curves" or tossing out grading scales completely in favor of a simple pass/fail system. The result of the implementation of these ideals on such broad levels has helped to produce 30 years worth of Americans who have no concept of what it means to achieve through hard work; have little to no concept of what can be learned from losing to a close rival; or having the effort it takes to "excel" at anything (except, perhaps, in sports).

A secondary effect of this is that excellence and achievement have also become vilified: those at young ages who strive to stand out are seen as being "weird" or "abnormal", and are placed in so called "advanced" classes, which label them as social outcasts in their school and neighborhood. This segragation also prevents them from having any positive influence over their fellow classmates.
These social and culture ideals are also socialistic: in Socialism, everyone is to be treated as an equal. In cultures based on Socialism, there are 2 classes of people: the ruling class, and every one else. To secure this separation, societies which have historically been based on Socialism, have built their culture and institutions around many of the same ideals that modern Liberals today, in America, support...


Inherently, there is nothing wrong with traditional Liberalism-that which was defined and supported by Mill in 1859. In fact, traditional Liberalism is largely a good thing for people, societies, and cultures to embrace. As it was when Mill first defined it in political and social terms, it became the backbone of the ideals that made America great. That Liberalism would have supported a persons right to choose-concerning everything-without sacrificing human natures natural desire to better itself through effort, hard work, and failure and success through trial and error. That form of Liberalism, traditional Liberalism, was at the heart of our individual spirit, our entrepreneuralship and the responsibility we all once held over our own successes and failures and it would have supported giving people hand ups, not hand outs, from the government. Today, however, Modern Liberalism is little more than Socialism attempting to disguise itself by a word with a better image, and meaning, than that which those using the word today really believe in.