The philosophy of ‘Liberalism’ can encompass a range of different and competing ideas, but can be broadly defined as belief system that places distinct value on the rights and freedoms of the individual and how political power is exercised to uphold those freedoms. Liberalism is often separated into two strands; Classical Liberalism and Social Liberalism. Classical Liberalism, which itself encompasses Economic Liberalism, is a philosophy that concerns itself with the limitation of the power and scope of government and its interference in the free market economy. It promotes the belief that individuals can make decisions that provide the greatest benefit to themselves, and rejects the belief that a government can know what is best for everyone.
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Politically, Conservatives and Libertarians tend to follow a more economically liberal version of liberalism and believe in small government and low taxation because they trust that this approach yields greater economic prosperity. Conversely, Left leaning and socialist parties favour a more socially liberal version of liberalism with big government and higher taxation because they believe that this makes society more equal and fair. Both are valid perspectives and they serve to highlight a conflict between two of the main principles of liberalism; freedom and equality. On one hand, it can be argued that the more of his income that a man is entitled to keep, the more resources he has for which to exercise his freedom. In other words, the lower the rate of income tax, the freer the man. American economist Murray Rothbard went as far as to argue that not only was taxation a restriction on economic liberty of the individual by the state, but …show more content…
to uphold freedom within the economy, the government should strive to interfere as little as possible, however when there is the potential for inequality or danger to arise, such as the exploitation of workers or unsafe working conditions, the government should intervene to prevent it through laws and regulations. When it comes to which perspective of equality should be adopted, a formal approach seems fairer. If everyone is treated the same by the law, then this allows judgements to be made on character and not on factors outside an individual’s control. Positive discrimination is still discrimination and from a liberal perspective, discrimination is wrong. Finally, there is the question of how/if wealth should be redistributed, it seems clear that not everyone is able to help themselves and so there needs to be some form of welfare support provided to those who require it. This would help to reduce inequality and allows a more universal exercise of freedom, which is a vital component to a liberal
Politically, Conservatives and Libertarians tend to follow a more economically liberal version of liberalism and believe in small government and low taxation because they trust that this approach yields greater economic prosperity. Conversely, Left leaning and socialist parties favour a more socially liberal version of liberalism with big government and higher taxation because they believe that this makes society more equal and fair. Both are valid perspectives and they serve to highlight a conflict between two of the main principles of liberalism; freedom and equality. On one hand, it can be argued that the more of his income that a man is entitled to keep, the more resources he has for which to exercise his freedom. In other words, the lower the rate of income tax, the freer the man. American economist Murray Rothbard went as far as to argue that not only was taxation a restriction on economic liberty of the individual by the state, but …show more content…
to uphold freedom within the economy, the government should strive to interfere as little as possible, however when there is the potential for inequality or danger to arise, such as the exploitation of workers or unsafe working conditions, the government should intervene to prevent it through laws and regulations. When it comes to which perspective of equality should be adopted, a formal approach seems fairer. If everyone is treated the same by the law, then this allows judgements to be made on character and not on factors outside an individual’s control. Positive discrimination is still discrimination and from a liberal perspective, discrimination is wrong. Finally, there is the question of how/if wealth should be redistributed, it seems clear that not everyone is able to help themselves and so there needs to be some form of welfare support provided to those who require it. This would help to reduce inequality and allows a more universal exercise of freedom, which is a vital component to a liberal