What makes liberalism so different to other political mainstreams? I think that part of the answer lies in the values we subscribe to both politically and as individuals, personal or individual freedom being the foremost of them. Other political mainstreams may also believe in freedom - but they have 1) a different understanding of freedom and 2) it is of lower priority in their system of values.
Another part of the answer is that liberalism is not an ideology in the same sense as conservatism or socialism is. A lot of what liberals want to achieve has little to do with attaining some kind of utopia. Instead, liberals try to get things done that are within our reach. In the process we use our common sense and maintain a sense of proportion and realism.This is perhaps less ambitious - but a more successful approach as experience shows.
A third important point concerns the liberalism commitment to the use of reason whenever we are looking for solutions.
An acquaintance of mine who lives in Brazil and with whom I have just had lunch explained why he thought liberalism is relevant today. He referred specifically to the economic aspects of liberalism. He explained that for him there are three expremely important arguments for the relevance of economic liberalism in today's world. They pertain to free markets and economic well-being. Free markets work because
ReplyDelete1. they are able to attach values/prices to scarce commodities and thus ensure that such commodities are distributed in a rational and non-wasteful manner (the von Mises approach);
2. because markets supply a wealth of information to producers and consumers not available elsewhere. Their decisions are made in accordance with the signals thereby supplied (the von Hayek approach) (the same also applies not only to economic markets but also to political markets in a liberal democracy)
3. because they are based on the institution of provate property (markets can only exist when buyers and sellers fully dispose of the articles or services they are trading) (the classical approach, eg, Adam Smith).
Perhaps there are a few things that can be added to these thoughts.
Anyway, I thought it was worth posting them in connection with our first topic...
It is important to understand how Liberalism differs from other political mainstreams. If we don’t have clarity amongst ourselves we will never be able to sell the idea and win votes. We cannot blame the voters for not voting for us – we need to communicate better!
ReplyDeleteWe differ, it appears from the discussions, mostly in terms of our understanding and the importance we attribute to individual freedom. Liberalism is also a much more flexible approach using reason to solve today’s problems without a blind allegiance to certain ideas. We therefore define development more in terms of a process as opposed to a particular end-product.
Our main liability appears to be our dependence on current up-to-date information and the complexity of communicating free-market economies (I think because this does not really exist in today’s world). The concept of free markets only works in combination with private property, rule of law and secularism and, as mentioned, the free availability of information. Nonetheless we have come far in the process ...
In selling our ideas, we need to consider our target market. I think the best market is the middle class but it was pointed out that we also need to get a foot in the door with both the ‘have’ and ‘have-nots’ as every vote counts. To do this, we need to consider the context, the institutions in our particular society and work on explaining what we stand for at this particular time frame to the electorate in practical language that they understand. (I’ll put my discussion document on the blog once i’ve translated it into English). It is not enough to only say what we stand for but we need to describe in practical terms and indicate what we can offer. We can offer participation, harmony, jobs, less red tape and accountability more than other political mainstreams.
We need to become more urgent in doing this as time is running out, yet we need to be aware of scaring voters. Take exceptional note of the particular circumstances in your country and put forth your argument in appropriate language and be creative in communicating - use song and plays if needs be. Remember, as the World Cup has indicated, above all people want to be entertained!