Understanding the historic thought of Liberalism

Now this is an idea for a thread I had for a while. Liberalism is a word that is overused like Communism, Socialism, etc. Which many people don't understand what Liberalism truly means. I'm here to present the history of Liberalism and the minds who made Liberalism great! As well a few jokes so I won't sound like an jackbutt lol.

For starters! Let's check out the definition of what Liberalism is. [1]

Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom") is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, free trade, secular society, and the market economy. These ideas are often accepted even among political groups that do not openly profess a liberal ideological orientation. Liberalism encompasses several intellectual trends and traditions, but the dominant variants are classical liberalism, which became popular in the 18th century, and social liberalism, which became popular in the 20th century.

That is a really great way to sum up Liberalism and sell a poster! Still I want to know more and understand the history and terms Liberalism has to offer me and everyone else. [2]
As I'm reading the entry. The beginning mentions the breaking up of the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church's rule on the people and the various King's and Queen's. Even though early Christians groups were persecuted and they were small. Soon Constantine I became the first Christian Roman emperor and integrated Christians into Roman life in the 4th century, the stage was set for the eventual domination of the Christian religion. Although the Roman Empire collapsed and splintered, Christianity was sufficiently entrenched into the fabric of society to survive the resulting sociopolitical chaos that characterized the period. As the Catholic Church gained power. were often characterized by fear, uncertainty, and warfare—the latter being especially endemic in medieval life. The power of the Church was very controversial since many protested of the papal over who was the Pope and who was not. The emergence of the Renaissance in the 15th century also helped to weaken unquestioning submission to the Church by reinvigorating interest in science and in the classical world. In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation developed from sentiments that viewed the Church as an oppressive ruling order too involved in the feudal and baronial structure of European society. in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Church launched a Counter Reformation to contain the bubbling sentiments, but this effort ultimately unraveled in the Thirty Years War, a deadly European conflict that lasted from 1618 until 1648. The war saw Catholic forces suffer massive defeats, and the religious unity of Europe was shattered. Since then: People of various Christian faiths and different religions had been persecuted by the Pope and other Catholic leaders. During the English Civil War.



[3]

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son, Charles II, and replacement of English monarchy with first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then with a Protectorate (1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell's personal rule. The monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England ended with the victors consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Constitutionally, the wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament's consent, although this concept was legally established only with the Glorious Revolution later in the century.

[4]

The intellectual foundations of liberalism were established by John Locke and drew added impetus from the Enlightenment, which questioned old traditions about societies and governments, in the 18th century. These new trends eventually coalesced into powerful revolutionary movements that toppled archaic regimes all over the world, especially in Europe, Latin America, and North America.

So now let's read about John Locke and his ideals. (which I believe are bloody brilliant!)
[5]

John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704), widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social contract theory. His work had a great impact upon the development of epistemology and political philosophy. His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. His contributions to classical republicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the American Declaration of Independence.

Did I just read that right? He influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States? That's awesome! I love the history and revolution ideals of our history. Well I madder then a Sunday school teacher with peanut butter on her upper lip! Yes the ideals of Liberalism and Republicanism; which to me equal Liberty and Prosperity. Have roots in our country. Which also influenced the French Revolution.
[6]


Now the French Revolution was the abolition and replacement of the French monarchy with a radical democratic republic. Radical social change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights. Which didn't last long till the First French Empire came to power. Despite the hardships and bloody revolutions in various countries. Liberalism as a form of Democracy and freedom continued to take hold on many people around the world. Which I will let this video speak for me. Be warned the video is about 2 hours long.

Google Video Link

This is from A seminar hosted by L.A. Law man which Red covers our civil duties and jury duties Also the the solution to today's coruption in the courts and political system.

This video should have relevance to this thread. Now I feel I'm ranting on and on and to be on a serious note I feel I'm at a with all this source and scant reporting. I will continue to update this thread and post more information after reading more on Liberalism and the ideals. Correct me anywhere you believe I made a mistake! This was a difficult word to define and explain.

I don’t believe Liberalism is hard to explain at all it is a general theory of understanding using the market forces of supply/demand in cooperation with a society based around a set of founding laws (constitution) along with a Republican form of government which is made as a representative of the citizens and the Constitution of the nation.

Since Liberalism is mostly set its economics around neoclassical we have seen the resurgence in the late 20th and early 21st century of free trade, liberal democracy, secularism and republicanism which are the founding principles of the Liberal philosophy. All of our presidents have been Liberals but it depends on which side they set, FDR for example was a Social Liberal while Ronald Reagan was a Conservative Liberal. It is all based around Economic Liberalism as the guiding principle.

Personally I have seen the fallacies of Liberalism, Communism, Libertarianism, Conservatism and Socialism, as they are all set out to give obedience to their ruling masters. None of them try to tackle the most critical of issues and instead prefer to play the power game treating society and people as if it is all a game.

Conservatives have truly abandoned Conservatism for a combination of Economic Liberalism and Social Conservatism rather than upholding their former banner of Traditionalist and Agrarian society with a foundation based around hierarchy and moral condition. We have traded morals for freedom forgetting to see that they are both compatible with each other. Liberalism has abandoned its past of subsidiarity and social solidarity in favor of the enlightenment era transformation towards individualism and Plutarchic Capitalism.

The current Liberal movement both Social Liberals (Democrats) and Classical liberals (Libertarians) have forgotten their original past where they believed in separation of church and state that did not exclude religion from society. They have abandoned the supposed ‘pre-enlightenment’ belief in tradition, culture and morality. Being free to release your inner desires is not freedom but rather perversion.

Believing that you do not owe any responsibility to society and everything you earn you have the right to keep in full has led to mass corruption, immorality and the death of society. We all have the right to the means of our own production as producing things for someone else is not actually freedom. Until we all have the opportunity to be our own boss we do not live in true Liberty as our founders intended.

Thomas Jefferson was a well known Agrarian who believed our system of economics and governance can only work when men (and women) have their own property as their own means of production. Self-reliance can only be accomplished when we have the tools to produce our own capital like a farmer or a plumber, do.

So I do disagree with Liberalism and Liassez-faire Capitalism but I believe strongly in Republicanism, Constitutionalism and above all else Distributism which I believe is the most proper form of economic order.

If you have any questions about Distributism please visit my thread and/or ask me some questions.

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