Understanding Liberalism and Its Purpose

For John, BLUF:  Liberalism is not about Progressive ideas, but about an agreement to give deference to the ideas of others, without giving up one's own.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A Machine for Preventing Civil War

From the Blog Chicago Boyz, by Blogger David Foster, 12 March 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

People talk about “liberalism” as if it’s just another word for capitalism, or libertarianism, or vague center-left-Democratic Clintonism. Liberalism is none of these things.  Liberalism is a technology for preventing civil war.  It was forged in the fires of Hell – the horrors of the endless seventeenth century religious wars.  For a hundred years, Europe tore itself apart in some of the most brutal ways imaginable – until finally, from the burning wreckage, we drew forth this amazing piece of alien machinery.  A machine that, when tuned just right, let people live together peacefully without doing the “kill people for being Protestant” thing.  Popular historical strategies for dealing with differences have included:  brutally enforced conformity, brutally efficient genocide, and making sure to keep the alien machine tuned really really carefully.

Very insightful and correct, I believe, if by liberalism one means free speech, freedom of religion, and limited government, rather than the cluster of ‘progressive’ believe that often fly under the ‘liberalism’ brand today.

And when the above attributes of a society do not exist or are eroded, then live-and-let live become difficult to impossible, and all questions become politicized, because political outcomes determine everything.

This is why I call myself a Liberal, but note I am not a Progressive, as it is understood today.

Regards  —  Cliff