<My criteria would be whether or not the government has the legitimate authority and whether or not the government would be most effective in solving it.>
That's a very good question. Ultimately, I think the will of the people decide what the answer should be to that question. There's no absolute correct answer here. That depends on the economic backdrop and the particular issue involved. In some instances, the gov't does provide a better solution; other times it doesn't. I think we have to analyze that on a case by case basis.
But here I want to try to define liberalism and contrast it from libertarianism. I think most Libertarians believe in little or no government, with individuals possessing strong or even sovereign property rights, along with the freedom to trade property as they wish on the free market. By contrast, liberals promote extensive government support of the free market and the taxation of property. Yet these are not the only reasons why liberals like me object to libertarianism. First, anarchy has historically led to violence, survival of the fittest, and eventual concentrations of power. Second, there are no working examples of libertarianism in history, so the system remains untested in modern times, and probably for good reason. Third, such a system would make landlords and business owners the dictators over their property, upon which tenants must live and workers must labor. Fourth, the voluntary contracts that would supposedly protect tenants and workers presupposes that there is no such thing as market failure or contract failure, in face of widespread evidence that there is.
I would define Liberalism as openness to progress and change. By contrast, conservatism attempts to conserve the traditions and received truths of the past. Liberalism has also been defined as generosity, tolerance, open-mindedness and willingness to give. To be sure, in the 18th century, liberals and libertarians were one and the same: both championed free markets, individual liberty and a greatly reduced role for government and aristocracy. This has led to one definition of liberalism: that liberals oppose political Absolutism in all its forms, be they Monarchist, Feudal, Military, Clerical or Communistic. However, there is considerable difference of opinion on how to run a decentralized society. I think most liberals generally believe in a large and free private sector that is generously defined, defended, and promoted by the public sector. In other words, a balance between individual and group behavior.
For example, consider the free market: liberals believe that individuals should be free to do whatever they please on the market, within the law. The law is determined by democratic government(I hear the founding fathers scolding me here!), and not only prohibits simple crimes like theft and murder, but commercial crimes like fraud, copyright infringement, insider trading, breach of contract, price gouging, etc. Without these laws, the market would function either poorly or not at all. For instance, if we did not have copyright laws discouraging people from pirating all their software, computer programmers could not even make a profit, and would have no incentive to produce.
Yet another function of government is to promote the free market. A dramatic example is Eisenhower's Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, which authorized the creation of over 40,000 miles of interstate highway. These highways interconnected, accelerated and expanded the U.S. economy, with profound results. They allowed the middle class to migrate from the cities to the suburbs, with an enormous increase in privacy and quality of life. Aren't Highways but one example of how publicly funded infrastructure has increased commerce -- others include railroads, canals, satellite communications, and even the Internet? (The net began as a project funded by the Pentagon and Public Universities.) Much of this infrastructure was too huge and expensive to be funded by private companies, and languished undeveloped until the public sector stepped in. What distinguishes liberals from other political parties is that liberals advocate a greater degree of government support, defense and promotion of the free market. |
