Katie Dezes Political Ideologies February 14, 2012 We Are All Liberals 200 years ago, George Washington

warned that The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it (Washingtons Farewell Address). Yet, no one appeared to have listened. In America today, when one thinks of politics, Republican and Democrat are the first words that come to mind. Instead of working to solve the problems of the nation together, we are concerned with proving that the party we identify with is superior. It should be a priority to bring compromise and harmony back to politics. The best way to do this is for everyone to stop thinking of themselves as a Democrat or Republican and remember that we are all Americans. America was founded on the principles of liberalism and because people today still support the values that helped build our Constitution, all Americans should be considered liberals. Americans now associate the word liberal with Democrats and conservative with Republicans. Yet, these modern terms can be deceiving and cause confusion. Republicans do not share the beliefs expressed by classical conservatives. Traditional conservatives supported the preservation and restoration of aristocratic societies that were put at risk by liberalism. They defended the traditional social hierarchy; they insisted on the need for a government strong enough to restrain the passions of the people; and they were often skeptical of attempts to promote individual freedom and equality of opportunity in a competitive society (Ball & Dagger, 94). Yet, modern conservatives support reducing the amount of government intervention to establish free markets and allow individual competition. Classical conservatives

would never allow individuals this much freedom. In their eyes, people are naturally flawed and put their selfish desires before the common good. They believed individuals are related to one another and to the society in the same way that the heart and the eyes and arms are related to the body-not as separate and isolated units but as interdependent members of a living organism (Ball & Dagger, 96). Yet, in America today, individual freedom is one of the most important values. Therefore, even the most conservative of American conservatives could not identify with classical conservative ideals. Americas founding fathers provided a liberal framework for our country. The Declaration of Independence claimed that all men are created equal and stressed that government is the biggest threat to individual liberty. The Declaration of Independence, then, employs a compressed version of the argument advanced by Locke, Paine, and other early liberals (Ball & Dagger, 58). All liberals would agree that it is important for individual liberty to be promoted. They believe The individual is the best judge of what is in his or her interest, so each person ought to be free to live as he or she sees fit- as long as the person does not choose to interfere with others freedom to live as they see fit (Ball & Dagger, 46). They consider people to be rational individuals capable of controlling and restraining their desires on their own. They agree with conservatives that people are motivated by self-interest. Yet, they do not view it as a negative trait. Liberals believe self-interest can be put to good use when it is directed toward fair competition. They also support the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed in life. Religious conformity, ascribed status, and mercantilism were seen by liberals as obstacles to ones freedom (Ball & Dagger, 47). These ideas should sound very familiar to all citizens of the United States. Modern conservatives would read this believing it was describing

their own political point of view. This is because these liberal beliefs are shared by all Americans, including Republicans and modern conservatives. The division between liberals in America did not occur until the creation of welfare liberalism. Some liberals began to argue that government should rescue people from poverty, ignorance, and illness (Ball & Dagger, 70). Those who disagreed with this view and believed it would put too much power into the hands of the government, became known as neoclassical liberals, since their position was more closely related to early liberalism. Therefore, the people Americans would now consider conservative are actually neoclassical liberals. While welfare liberals believe that a person born into poverty with little opportunity to escape from their situation is not truly free, neoclassical liberals believe if someone born into this situation works hard enough they can become just as successful as anyone else. Welfare liberals believe the government should help to establish a society that would promote the less fortunate to give them an equal opportunity. Everyone would gain freedom and experience greater possibilities by serving the common good. Neoclassical liberals complained that these policies simply robbed some individuals of their freedom by forcing them to transfer their property, through taxes, to others (Ball & Dagger, 72). For this reason, they believe the government should do nothing more than watch over and protect the person and property of individuals against force and fraud (Ball & Dagger, 71). It was not until this division occurred that the modern American conservative was born. Therefore, it is important for Americans to recognize the difference between classical and modern conservatism. The fact that some liberals in America may be more conservative than others does not change the fact that we are all liberals.

References Ball, Terence and Richard Dagger. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal. 8th ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2011. Print. Washingtons Farewell Address 1796. Avalon.law.yale.edu. Lillian Goldman Law Library, 2008. Web. 13 Feb, 2012.