These ideas were first put forward by thinkers such as John
Locke, Thomas Paine, and John Stuart Mill. People who at the time called
themselves liberals. The term conservative, at that time, was used to describe
those who favored one form or another of monarchy.
As time went on those who call themselves liberals slowly
abandoned these liberal ideas.
Limited Government
With the Great Depression and the election of FDR the idea
of limited government was abandoned. The Democrat party—the party that claims
to carry the mantle of liberalism—believed that they could use the power of
government to make the world a better place for mankind.
Yet in order to do that they needed to have more power
concentrated in the government. This power was needed in order to make the
people do what they believed was right. If there was a problem why not solve it
with a government program.
In order to solve more problems they needed a bigger
government. Those who spoke up about this growth in government were shouted
down for not caring about their fellow man. Hiding behind a mask of altruism,
authoritarianism took a step forward.
Individual Liberty
During the civil rights movement those who called themselves
liberals in the Democratic Party abandoned the idea of individual liberty. They
saw the power that could be gained by targeting group’s
rights over individual rights. While the civil rights produced a net
positive for individuals it also planted the seed of group’s right in the
Democratic Party.
By targeting the rights of groups of people you inherently
have to abandon the idea of rights for the individual. You have to put the
group before the individual. It is this shift that has led to modern
progressive ideas championed by Feminism and various racial interest groups.
Yet in order for these groups’ rights to work you need to
have an oppressor group to champion against. This fits nicely with the Marxist
idea of oppressor verses the oppressed. Hiding behind the mask of the champion
of the people authoritarianism took another step.
Free Markets
The free market system has to exist in order for people to
be free. It allows individuals to make their own choices, take their own risks,
and be responsible for their own failures. It has generated the wealthiest
countries in the world and has lifted more people out of poverty than any other
system that has come before or since.
When John Maynard Keynes put forward his idea that
government could step in and correct problems in the market those in power
jumped at the theory. More power they thought would allow them to do more good.
With Keynes economic model in hand they sought to use the
power they gained in government to shape the market and the world in their
image. Like the philosopher kings in Plato’s Republic they saw themselves as
the smartest best people for the job and thus would know the best course of
action on any subject.
The free market was seen as an area that created inequality.
An inequality of outcome that could only be corrected by government
intervention guided by the anointed in the Democrat Party. Behind the mask of
fighting inequality and corruption authoritarianism took another step.
The Road to Hell…
Today the Progressive element in the Democratic Party has
taken control. They want people in the street to use the rioters veto to get
their agenda pushed through and to silence any opposition. To borrow a metaphor,
they believe they are doing God’s work.
They possess the same righteous fanaticism that members of
the inquisition possessed. The same fanaticism expressed by Islamic extremists.
Yet they hide behind the mask of liberalism.
They use it to fool people who still believe in the
tradition of liberal values into thinking there brand of authoritarianism is
what is best for the world. These people are not liberals in the original sense
of the word, they have perverted the word and still use the old idea as a mask
for authoritarian ideas.
They believe a small group of elite intellectual should have
the power of government to give out rights to groups of people to make things
fairer and to distribute the wealth of the market to those who in their opinion
need it most. They finally made the jump from liberal to Authoritarian Marxist
by following the creed “From each
according to his ability, to each according to his needs” as determined by
them.
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