Table of Contents

• An Overview in 1,700 words
• Introduction: What is Liberalism?
  • The Problem of Definition
  • The Multi-Dimensional Nature of Liberalism
  • The Three Main Kinds of Liberalism
    
• Liberalism and the State
  • How big/powerful should the State be?
  • The Problem of creating a Limited State
  • The Problem of Keeping the State Limited
  • The Problem of turning a big “predatory” State into a limited “protective” State
• Liberal Ideas
  • What Liberals were AGAINST
  • What Liberals were FOR
  • Liberal "Virtues”
  • The “Liberal Vision”
• Key Individuals, Texts, and Movements for Reform
  • The Pre-history of Liberalism (proto-liberalism)
  • The Four Main Periods of Liberal Activity/Reform
  • Key Elements for Each of the Main Periods
  • A specific example of this: the Free Trade movement
• A Balance Sheet of Liberal Successes and Failures
  • The Achievements of Liberalism: Emancipation and Enrichment
  • The Failures of Liberalism
  • What still needs to be done?
• Strategies to achieve Liberal Reforms
  • The Aim is to change the Climate of Opinion and then Policies
  • Understanding the Theory and History of successful Ideological and Political Change
  • Getting the Main Building Blocks in Place: the Structure of Production of Ideas, their Dissemination, and their Practical Application
  • The main Threats to Liberty and “What is to be done”
• Some Recommended Reading

 

An Overview in 1,700 words

In a nutshell (1730 w) this is my view of how the Classical Liberal (CL) movement and ideas have evolved over the past 400 years:

CLs did not call themselves “liberals” until the early 19thC. However, before this time we can identify many individuals in the ancient Greek and Roman world, as well as in the medieval period, who developed what we would now call “liberal ideas”. These people I call “proto-liberals” and their relevant ideas “proto-liberal” ideas.

Proto-liberal ideas first began to come together into a more coherent worldview as a reaction to the growing power of the absolutist state and the established church in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries (the Protestant Reformation after 1517 and the English Revolution of the 1640s). This is why I begin by examining what CLs were “against” before turning to a discussion of what they were “for”.

Through a series of rebellions and revolutions the power of the state (Throne) and the church (Altar) was challenged based upon a combination of

1. a desire by people to retain their traditional rights and privileges which the state and the church were trying to undermine or even destroy, such as taxation, land usage, and religious practices (this is the “conservative” side of CL), and
2. the emergence of new ideas about the nature of individual, political, and economic liberty which many individuals thought should be used
3. to shape the structure of institutions of the societies in which they lived (such as limited constitutional government, the rule of (just) law, and the free market), and
4. should apply to other groups of individuals who had previously been excluded from the benefits of liberal reform/emancipation, such as serfs, slaves, women, people of colour, and gays (this is the “revolutionary” and “emancipatory” side of CL).

These new ideas slowly evolved into more coherent and sophisticated theories of how societies, markets, and political institutions worked or should work. This more coherent theory came to be known as “liberalism.”

I believe the there were 4 major periods of CL intellectual and political activity during which new theoretical ideas were developed, spread among the public in a more popular form, acted upon by reformers, and resulted in significant liberal reforms:

1. 1640s-1680s: the English Civil War/Revolution and the “Glorious” Revolution of 1688
2. 1750s-1790s: the American and French Revolutions
3. the long liberal 19th century 1815/30-1914
4. the post-WW2 liberal renaissance

The period from about 1750 to 1850 was crucial in the development of CL ideas as a result of the Enlightenment in Europe and America, the development of economic theory by the Physiocrats and Adam Smith, and the emergence of political theories of limited constitutional government during the American and French revolutions and their immediate aftermath.

At this time CL evolved into two separate streams based upon how limited they wanted the powers of the state to be: a “radical” and a “moderate” form of liberalism; the former which advocated an ultra-minimal state (or even no state at all), and the latter a limited government (which would provide defence, police, courts of law, and some public goods).

The heyday of CL (its true “classical” period) was the 19th century (approximately 1830-1914) before CL ideas and institutions were weakened and in many instances destroyed by the events of WW1, the Great Depression, and WW2 and its aftermath. It was during the 19th century that liberal, democratic, and constitutional societies emerged in Western Europe, North America, and some of the colonies of the British Empire (like Canada and Australia). These societies were the product of two of the most important historical movements of human history: firstly, what I have called the “Great Emancipation” and then, as a result of this emancipation, what McCloskey has called the “Great Enrichment”.

The “Great Emancipation” liberated millions of people from the shackles of serfdom, slavery, mercantilist regulations and privileges, authoritarian even despotic government, and the devastation of war. The liberal societies which were beginning to emerge in the early 19th century introduced policies which allowed the growth of free trade, industrialisation, the free movement of people, freedom of speech, and the protection of property rights and the rule of law.

These emancipations in turn lead to what McCloskey has called the “Great Enrichment” where for the first time in human history ordinary people were able to escape the abject poverty and misery of traditional peasant life and thus have much longer, more productive, and more fulfilling lives.

However, towards the end of the 19th century CL suffered an intellectual “crisis”. On the one hand, many of its adherents seem to lose the inspiring “vision” they had had in the late 18th and early 19th centuries of the kind of future free society they wanted to create. This was the result of the movement away from basing CL on the notion of “natural rights” and a vision of justice based on these rights, and a movement towards the theory of utilitarianism as mediated by utility-minded bureaucrats and politicians.

On the other hand, CL suffered an internal split with the rise of a third variant of liberalism, namely a so-called “new” liberalism which broke away from the “radical” and “moderate” forms of CL which had predominated up until then and which had made possible the “great emancipation” and the “great enrichment”. The “new liberals” wanted to incorporate aspects of “socialism” or “social democracy” into their theory, which would justify a much greater role for the state to intervene in the economy. It is this third form of liberalism which has come to dominate “liberal” thinking in the late 20th and 21st centuries

Unfortunately this experiment in “liberal” emancipation of the pre-1914 period was all too brief before WW1 brought the experiment to an abrupt end. It became clear in the late 19th century that the liberal movement had petered out and its program of emancipation had been left unfinished. CL was thus vulnerable to the charge that its adherents had become complacent with the successes they had already achieved and were not willing to extend emancipation to others (women, subjects of the empire, and people with different sexual preferences).

WW1 brought rampant statism, militarism, war socialism, fascism, and bolshevism/communism. The Great Depression, caused by government meddling in banking, interest rates, and the money supply, was used to justify a raft of interventionist measures, many of which we still have today. WW2 brought another round of massive government intervention in the economy, not to mention the conscription of millions of men into the armed services and the rationing of consumer goods for those left behind. CL voices went silent.

CL was very weak in the second half of the 20th century in the face of the events of the Thirty Years War of the 20th Century (1914-1945) and its aftermath: the Cold War (and its many “warm” proxy wars) and the threat of nuclear annihilation, the steady growth of welfare-statism, Keynesian economic management, and crony-capitalism.

There was a slow rediscovery of CL ideas in the post-WW2 period which has taken place within the “conservative” and “neo-liberal” movements in the Anglo-world as well as in a new form of radical CL known as “libertarianism” which has emerged since the 1970s, especially in the US. The “neo-liberalism” which first appeared in 1937 and developed in earnest after 1947 was really a “new, new liberalism” which again tried to find an accommodation of some liberal ideas with the welfare-state, highly regulated capitalism, and Keynesian management of interest rates and the money supply.

A smaller number of “classical liberals” rejected the “neo-liberal” compromise and sought to rebuild a more radical CL alternative (called by some “libertarianism”) based upon ideas drawn from Austrian economic theory (Mises, Hayek, Rothbard), the Public Choice school of economic thought (Buchanan, Tullock, Boettke), and Aristotelian natural law theory (Rand, Rothbard, Rasmussen and Den Uyl, and Mack)

We have now reached a contradictory moment in history where we are living in a “hybrid society” which combines aspects of liberty (what I call our “legacy liberties” which are some of the fruits of the “great emancipation” of the 18th and 19th centuries) as well as massive state intervention and control which is the inheritance of 20th century war and statism. On the one hand, we have never been as prosperous, educated, healthy, and “free” (in some important areas such as discrimination against people of colour, women, and homosexuals), and yet at the same time, popular belief in CL values is very weak and the burden of the state in terms of taxation levels, inflation, debt, economic regulation, and the surveillance and regulation many aspects of our personal lives have never been greater.

In conclusion I would argue that:

• CLT has a long and rich history going back over 400 years
• in the face of considerable odds the CLT has achieved some very significant victories which can be summarised as the “Great Emancipation” and the “Great Enrichment” which we continue to enjoy today
• unfortunately, the “Great Emancipation” which began in the late 18th century was left unfinished and so present day CLs still have a lot that needs to be done if we wish to see all groups fully emancipated
• in the face of the expansion of state power in recent decades the wealth generating capacity of the “Great Enrichment” has been slowed and hampered; if we wish to see more of humanity enjoy its benefits these shackles have to be removed unless these excluded groups seek some other political ideology to achieve their goals
• there are at present some very serious threats to liberty and prosperity which CLs need to address and overcome. I have listed about 12 of these threats elsewhere

But what seems to be the greatest problem today for CLs is the lack of support for CL ideas among both the general public and academics/intellectuals; until this problem has been rectified there seems little chance that either emancipation or enrichment will be able to achieve their fullest potential. The ideas which I think are most important for CLs to promote are the following:

1. the immorality of initiating the use of coercion against others
2. the lack of understanding about and exaggeration of “market failure” which is a major reason people call for government intervention in the first place
3. the lack of understanding about and the seriousness of “government failure” which is a major reason people continue to call for government intervention in spite of its repeated failures
4. the public’s profound ignorance of many basic economic insights

 

---

 

1. Introduction: What is Liberalism?↩

The Problem of Definition:

1. where CL lies on the political spectrum
   1. Is Liberalism "Left" or “Right”?
   2. Radical/Revolutionary (the emancipation of others) or Conservative (preserving existing liberties)?

The Multi-Dimensional Nature of Liberalism

1. political liberties
2. economic liberties
3. social (individual) liberties
4. legal liberties

The Three Main Kinds of Liberalism

1. Radical Liberalism
2. Moderate Liberalism
3. “New” Liberalism

Other Hyphenated Liberalisms

1. proto-liberalism
2. neo-liberalism
3. false liberalism
4. state liberalism
5. LINO

See the following blog posts for more information:

1. “The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism” (19 April, 2022) [Online].
   
2. “Plotting Liberty: The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism and the Need for a New ‘Left-Right’ Political Spectrum” (17 April, 2022) [Online].
   
3. “ ‘Hyphenated’ Liberalism and the Problem of Definition” (9 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
4. “Hyphenated Liberalism Part II: Utopian, Democratic, Revolutionary, and State Liberalism” (12 Oct. 2021) [Online].
   
5. “The Conservative and Revolutionary Faces of Classical Liberalism” (11 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
6. “How Modern Day CL/Libertarians Differ From “Classical” Classical Liberals” (24 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
7. “The Incoherence and Contradictions inherent in Modern Liberal Parties (and one in particular)” (21 Oct. 2021) [Online].

 

---

 

2. Liberalism and the State↩

 

How big/powerful should the State be?

1. Limited government liberalism
   1. Classical Liberal State - Smith, Mill, Hayek
   2. Minarchist State - Mises, Rand, Nozick
   3. Ultra-Minarchist State - Say, Bastiat, Molinari II
   4. Fully Voluntarist “State” - Spencer, Molinari I, Rothbard
2. big government liberalism: welfare-state, regulatory state

The Problem of creating a Limited State

1. via (piecemeal, democratic) reform or
2. revolution (violence)

The Problem of Keeping the State Limited

1. public opinion / free press
2. written constitution and bill of rights (policed by courts)
3. a vigilant and consistent “liberal” political party

The Problem of turning a big “predatory” State into a limited “protective” State

1. The Problem of Obedience: Why people obey the State?
2. persuading people a limited state / CL is a good thing
   1. the ideal of liberal justice for all
   2. the exaggeration of market failure
   3. the neglect of political failure
   4. public ignorance of basic economic principles
3. overcoming the powerful groups who live off the state
   1. The Problem of Vested Interests and Rent-Seeking
   2. Class Rule and Class Struggle
   3. “crony-ism” (institutionalized privilege-seeking)
      1. “crony capitalism” - industry, commerce, banking, farming
      2. “crony democracy” (voters, politicians)
      3. “crony bureaucracy” and public sector unions

See the following blog posts for more information:

1. “The Spectrum of State Power: or a New Way of Looking at the Political Spectrum” ( 25 Apr. 2022) [Online].
2. “Classical Liberals on the Size and Functions of the State” (25 Apr. 2022) [Online].

 

---

 

3. Liberal Ideas↩

Concept Map of Classical Liberalism

 

What Liberals were AGAINST

1. arbitrary political power,
2. arbitrary religious power
3. slavery & serfdom
4. censorship
5. torture, arbitrary arrest & imprisonment, execution
6. war & conscription
7. restrictions on who could stand for election and vote
8. heavy and arbitrary taxation
9. central banks, fiat money, and national debt
10. tariffs & other trade restrictions
11. subsidies & monopolies to favoured industries
12. empire & colonies

What Liberals were FOR

1. highest order ends: individual and social flourishing
2. other high order ends: life, liberty, property, justice
3. the foundations of belief in liberty
   • grounds: natural rights or utility
   • basic principles: life, liberty, property
4. processes/means for achieving liberty
   • toleration; spontaneous orders; free movement of people, goods, and ideas
   • individual flourishing; peace co-existence with others
   • non-aggression principle, arbitation of disputes
5. liberty as a “bundle” of more specific freedoms:
   1. political liberty
      1. freedom of the press, freedom of speech, free expression (JS Mill)
      2. limited representative government, power limited by means of a constitution and/or bill of rights (Jefferson, Madison)
      3. religious toleration, extended to toleration of all unorthodox thought and (non injurious) behaviour
      4. the right of "exit", right of rebellion against unjust state, resistance to tyranny
   2. economic liberty
      1. domestic free markets and international free trade (A. Smith, F. Bastiat)
      2. complete freedom of movement of people and goods (laissez-faire, laissez-passer)
      3. private ownership of economic assets
      4. minimal taxes, balanced government budgets
      5. private provision of "public goods"
   3. individual/social liberty
      1. equal treatment under the law to all groups regardless of status/rank, gender, sexual preference, race
      2. toleration of "different experiments in living" (JS Mill), "the pursuit of happiness" (Jefferson, Dec. Ind)
      3. no "victimless crimes" (alcohol, drugs, suicide)
   4. legal liberty
      1. rule of law, law applies equally to all (including agents of the state)
      2. constituitonal limits on state power; bill of rights

Twelve Key Concepts of Liberty

1. Natural Law and Natural Rights
2. Private Property
3. Individual Liberty
4. Idea of Spontaneous Order
5. Free Markets
6. Limited Government
7. Rule of Law
8. Freedom of Speech & Association (special case of Religion)
9. Free Trade
10. Peace
11. Progress and Human Flourishing
12. Consent of the Governed (right to "exit")

1. Natural Law and Natural Rights the world is governed by natural laws which are discoverable by human reason Tom Paine's "imprescriptible rights": the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness rights are not created by government but exist anterior to it [alternative view of utilitarianism - maximization of happiness or utilty]	2. Private Property the right of self-propriety or self-ownership the right to exchange property titles with others private contracts the right to enjoy one's property so long as no aggression is initiated against others	3. Individual Liberty an individual, private sphere which is protected from outside interference the dignity of the individual, individual autonomy, sanctity of life right of voluntary association among individuals civil society
4. Idea of Spontaneous Order institutions emerge spontaneously and evolve over time by pursuing their own selfish interests in a voluntary manner they are led as if by an "invisible hand" (Adam Smith) to promote the welfare of others	5. Free Markets complete freedom of movement of people and goods (laissez-faire, laissez-passer) domestic free markets, competition division of labour low taxes little or no regulation	6. Limited Government governmental power limited by means of a constitution and/or bill of rights elections to periodically remove bad governments checks and balances between the branches of government federalism and decentralization of power how limited should government be? - classical Smithian view, nighwatchman state, anarcho-capitalism
7. Rule of Law rule of laws not of men law applies equally to all (including agents of the state) common law independent courts trial by jury right to habeas corpus	8. Freedom of Speech & Religion freedom of the press the right of assembly and right to engage in peaceful protest no state-enforced religion right to practice the religion of one's choice toleration of all unorthodox thought and (non injurious) behaviour	9. Free Trade complete freedom of movement of people and goods (laissez-faire, laissez-passer) international free trade natural harmony of interests leads to peace
10. Peace non-interference in the affairs of other nations international arbitration to solve disputes free trade beween all nations respect for the laws of war	11. Progress and Human Flourishing through hard work and initiative both individuals and society can be improved indefinitely wealth creation is a product of the free market and trade	12. Consent of the Governed (right to "exit") the right to rebel against unjust government, tyranny the right to secede freedom of movement across political borders - immigration, emmigration

Liberal "Virtues”

People should “live liberally” (i.e. by “liberal virtues”) as individuals, members of a family, as neighbors, and as citizens, by

1. Being responsible for one’s own actions
2. Respecting the equal rights of others
3. Refusing to initiate the use of coercion against others
4. Being open to new ideas & behaviour
5. Showing compassion towards others
6. Being tolerant of others
7. Wanting liberal justice for all

The “Liberal Vision”

Richard Cobden's Liberal Dream - "Free Trade in Everything"

But I have been accused of looking too much to material interests. Nevertheless I can say that I have taken as large and great a view of the effects of this mighty principle as ever did any man who dreamt over it in his own study. I believe that the physical gain will be the smallest gain to humanity from the success of this principle. I look farther; I see in the Free-trade principle that which shall act on the moral world as the principle of gravitation in the universe,—drawing men together, thrusting aside the antagonism of race, and creed, and language, and uniting us in the bonds of eternal peace. I have looked even farther. I have speculated, and probably dreamt, in the dim future—ay, a thousand years hence—I have speculated on what the effect of the triumph of this principle may be. I believe that the effect will be to change the face of the world, so as to introduce a system of government entirely distinct from that which now prevails. I believe that the desire and the motive for large and mighty empires; for gigantic armies and great navies—for those materials which are used for the destruction of life and the desolation of the rewards of labour—will die away; I believe that such things will cease to be necessary, or to be used, when man becomes one family, and freely exchanges the fruits of his labour with his brother man. I believe that, if we could be allowed to reappear on this sublunary scene, we should see, at a far distant period, the governing system of this world revert to something like the municipal system; and I believe that the speculative philosopher of a thousand years hence will date the greatest revolution that ever happened in the world’s history from the triumph of the principle which we have met here to advocate. I believe these things: but, whatever may have been my dreams and speculations, I have never obtruded them upon others. I have never acted upon personal or interested motives in this question; I seek no alliance with parties or favour from parties, and I will take none—but, having the feeling I have of the sacredness of the principle, I say that I can never agree to tamper with it. I, at least, will never be suspected of doing otherwise than pursuing it disinterestedly, honestly, and resolutely.

Richard Cobden, Speech at Manchester, January 15, 1846, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908), vol. 1.

1. CLs have had inspiring visions of what a free society might look like and what its benefits to humanity would be
2. this vision disappeared towards the end of the 19thC which led to young people looking elsewhere for inspiration (socialism, nationalism, fascism)
3. Buchanan, Ebeling, and Boettke have called for CLs to rediscover their “liberal soul”, its “beautiful philosophy”, and the “passion for justice”
4. some examples of inspiring CL “visionaries”
   1. Condorcet (1794): the ‘Tenth Epoch” of human progress towards unending liberty and prosperity
   2. Richard Cobden’s “dream” of free trade in everything (1846)
   3. Frédéric Bastiat’s (1847) speeches put into the mouths of “Mr. Utopian” and “Pancho” on urging people “to do as you please”
   4. Gustave de Molinari’s (1849) “Spartacus speech” urging modern day slaves to rise up and throw off their chains
   5. J.S. Mill’s (1859) vision of people engaging in “different experiments in living”
   6. Friedrich Hayek (1949): “a liberal Utopia”, “a truly liberal radicalism”, of interlocking spontaneous orders
   7. Ayn Rand’s (1957) vision of the anarchist refuge of “Galt’s Gulch”
   8. Robert Nozick (1974): the CL minimal state provides a “framework for Utopias” to complete against each other
   9. James Buchanan’s (2000) vision of “the soul” of CL which imagined a social order in which everyone can be free and where “no person exerts power over another”.
   10. Chandran Kukathas’ (2003) idea of the “liberal archipelago” of multiple jurisdictions in a sea of mutual toleration (2003)
   11. Peter Boettke’s (2021) radical vision of a cosmopolitan, emancipatory, and compassionate liberal society which is a “workable utopia”

See the following blog posts for more information:

1. “Liberty as the Sum of All Freedoms” (26 April, 2022) [Online].
2. “Twelve Key Concepts of Liberty” (25 Apr. 2022) [Online].
3. “What Classical Liberals were Against” (12 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
4. “What Classical Liberals were For” (13 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
5. “What CLs were For – Part 2: Ends and Means” (19 Oct., 2021) [Online].
6. “Classical Liberal Visions of the Future I” (27 August, 2021) [Online].
   
7. “Classical Liberal Visions of the Future II: The Contribution of Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912)” (29 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
8. “Classical Liberal Visions of the Future III: Liberal Experiments, Frameworks, and Archipelagos” (11 Oct. 2021) [Online].
   
9. “Hayek on a Liberal Utopia” (11 Sept. 2021) [Online].

Also my "thematic" listing of articles from the Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008) on the "key ideas" and "movements".

 

---

 

4. Key Individuals, Texts, and Movements for Reform↩

The Pre-history of Liberalism (proto-liberalism)

The following have articles in the EoL which are recommended reading:

1. The Ancient World: "Liberty in the Ancient World", "Epicurianism", "Stoicism"
2. The Medieval Period: "Magna Carta" "Scholastics - School of Salamanca"
3. The Reformation & Renaissance: "Classical Republicanism" "Dutch Republic"

The Four Main Periods of Liberal Activity/Reform

1. 1640-80s: the English Civil War/Revolution
   1. "English Civil Wars", "The Levellers", "John Milton" & "Puritanism"
   2. "Glorious Revolution", "John Locke", "Algernon Sidney", "Whiggism"
2. 1750s-1790s: the American and French Revolutions
   1. 18thC Commonwealthmen - "Cato's Letters"
   2. The Scottish Enlightenment - "Enlightenment", "Adam Smith", "Adam Ferguson", "David Hume"
   3. The French Enlightenment - "Physiocracy", "Turgot", "Montesquieu", "Voltaire"
   4. Women's rights: "Feminism and Women's Rights", "Mary Wollstonecraft", "Condorcet"
   5. "American Revolution" , "Declaration of Independence", "Thomas Jefferson" , Thomas Paine, "Constitution, U.S.", "James Madison", "Bill of Rights, U.S."
   6. "French Revolution", "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen"
3. the long liberal 19th century 1815-1914
   1. English classical liberals: "Classical Liberalism", "Philosophic Radicals", "Utilitarianism,"Jeremy Bentham", "Classical Economics", "John Stuart Mill"
   2. French classical liberals: "Jean-Baptiste Say, "Benjamin Constant", "Charles Comte, "Charles Dunoyer", "Frédéric Bastiat, "Gustave de Molinari"
   3. Free Trade Movement: "Anti-Corn Law League,"John Bright, "Richard Cobden"
   4. Abolition of Slavery - "Abolitionism", "William Wilberforce", "William Lloyd Garrison, "John Brown", "Frederick Douglass, "Lysander Spooner"
   5. The Radical Individualists: "Thomas Hodgskin", "Herbert Spencer", "Auberon Herbert"
   6. The "Austrian School of Economics": 1st generation - "Carl Menger", "Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk"; interwar years - "Ludwig von Mises", "Friedrich Hayek"
4. the post-WW2 liberal renaissance
   1. "Mont Pelerin Society" - "Friedrich Hayek", "Milton Friedman", "Karl Popper", "James Buchanan"
   2. Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) & "Antony Fisher"
   3. Foundation for Economc Education (FEE) & "Leonard Read"
   4. Institute for Humane Studies & "F.A. Harper"
   5. The Austrian School of Economics II: post-WW2 2nd generation - "Ludwig von Mises", "Friedrich Hayek", "Murray N. Rothbard", "Israel Kirzner"
   6. "Chicago School of Economics" & "Milton Friedman"
   7. "Objectivism" & "Ayn Rand"
   8. "Public Choice Economics" & "James Buchanan"

Key Elements for Each of the Main Periods

1. key thinkers and their texts
2. “movers and shakers”: important politicians and movement organizers and agitators
3. key political and legal documents

A specific example of this: the Free Trade movement

1. Key theorists: Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations (1776); J.B. Say, Treatise of Political Economy (1803)
2. Activists and organisations: Richard Cobden and the Anti-Corn Law League (1838), Frédéric Bastiat and the French Association for Free Trade (1847)
3. Document/Legislation: the Repeal of the Corn Laws (1846); the Anglo-French Free Trade Treaty (1860)

See the following blog posts for more information:

1. “Classical Liberal Movements: A Four Hundred Year History” (17 Aug. 2021) [Online].
   
2. “Classical Liberalism as a Revolutionary Ideology of Emancipation” (13 Oct. 2021) [Online].
   
3. “Classical Liberalism as the Philosophy of Emancipation II: The “True Radical Liberalism” of Peter Boettke” (17 Oct. 2021) [Online].

Also my "thematic" listing of articles from the Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008) on the "key ideas" and "movements".

 

---

 

5. A Balance Sheet of Liberal Successes and Failures↩

The Achievements of Liberalism

1. The Great Emancipation
   1. from coerced labour
   2. from the arbitrary authority of kings and princes
   3. from “cruel & unusual punishment”
   4. from violations of property rights
   5. from the arbitrary power of the Church
   6. from restrictions and bans on associating with others on a voluntary basis
   7. from restrictions on trade and industrial activity
   8. from restrictions on the movement of people, goods, and capital
   9. from strict limits on who could participate in political activity
   10. from war and conscription into the army
2. The Great Enrichment
   1. spread of CL ideas led to changes in the way people interacted with other
      1. respect for the life, liberty, and property of others
      2. the dignity of productive and useful labour, trading with others
   2. greater productivity and innovation led to explosion of wealth creation
   3. longer life expectancy, lower infant morality (and childbirth deaths of mothers), reduction of disease, less demanding physical labour (mechanization), and greater home comforts for ordinary working people (piped water, sewers, heating, light)

The Failures of Liberalism

1. The emancipation project was left incomplete
   1. the inconsistent application of liberal principles
   2. complacency
   3. religious arrogance
2. CL political and economic theory suffered from a series of weaknesses
   1. viewing “democracy” as an end in itself rather than as a means
   2. the weakening of belief in natural rights
   3. exaggerating the extent of and misunderstanding the reasons for “market failure”
   4. ignoring the problem of “government failure”
   5. not being able to explain the cause of the business cycle and the economic depressions which were the result
3. Many CLs were politically naive
   1. their faith in the benevolence and omniscience of the state and its officials
   2. their willingness to let the new democratic state be “captured” by vested interests (both old and new)
   3. their faith in the ability and willingness of the “middling class” to make democracy work
4. The inability to explain basic economic ideas simply to the ordinary person
5. The “Loss” of the Intellectuals to Socialism
6. CLs lost their “Vision” of what a free society should be like

What still needs to be done?

Universalising the benefits of Emancipation and Enrichment

See the following blog posts for more information:

1. “The Success of Liberal Ideas has led to the Decline of Radical Liberal Parties” (6 Sept. 2021) [Online].
   
2. “A Balance Sheet of the Success and Failures of Classical Liberalism” (21 Apr. 2022) [Online].

 

---

 

6. Strategies to Achieve Liberal Reforms↩

The Aim is to change the Climate of Opinion and then Policies

Understanding the Theory and History of successful Ideological and Political Change

Getting the Main Building Blocks in Place: the Structure of Production of Ideas, their Dissemination, and their Practical Application

1. Scholarship and Higher Learning
   1. innovative scholars who develop the “high theory”
   2. other scholars who take the theory further and disseminate it to their students
2. Entrepreneurs and Investors in Ideas who establish research centres, think tanks, and outreach organisations
3. Outreach Organisations which make the ideas available/accessible to students, teachers, intellectuals, and other interested members of the public
4. the “Dark Side” of Liberal Reform (getting our hands dirty with “politics”)
   1. Lobby Groups and Policy Study Centres which influence politicians, legislators, senior bureaucrats, journalists
   2. Organisations/Parities which educate and organise ordinary citizens/voters by means of the “popularization” of liberal ideas (especially economic ideas)

The main Threats to Liberty and “What is to be done”

1. Identification of the current threats (15+)
2. the Prioritisation of their danger to Liberty
3. taking steps to Eliminate or Neutralise them using the “building blocks” outlined above
4. using liberal means to achieve liberal ends

See the following blog posts for more information:

1. “The Prospects for Liberty: The Threats it faces and how to counter them” (23 Mar. 2022) [Online].
2. "The State of the Libertarian Movement after 50 Years (1970-2020): Some Observations" (25 March, 2021) [Online].
3. "Rothbard on Strategy" (12 November, 2020) [Online].

And the following essays:

1. "Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Scribblers: An Austrian Analysis of the Structure of Production and Distribution of Ideas". A paper given at the Southern Economics Association, New Orleans, November 21-23, 2015.HTML and PDF.
2. a Liberty Matters discussion I hosted on "The Spread of Classical Liberal Ideas" (March, 2015) Online].

 

---

 

Recommended Reading↩

The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, (EoL) ed. Ronald Hamowy (Los Angeles: Sage, 2008. A Project of the Cato Institute).

Anthologies of Primary Sources:

• The Libertarian Reader: Classic and Contemporary Readings from Lao-Tzu to Milton Friedman, ed. David Boaz (New York: The Free Press, 1997).
• Western Liberalism: A History in Documents from Locke to Croce, ed. E.K. Bramstead and K.J. Melhuish (London: Longman, 1978).

Histories of the Classical Liberal/Libertarian Movement:

• Jim Powell, The Triumph of Liberty: A 2,000-Year History, told through the Lives of Freedom’s greatest Champions (New York: The Free Press, 2000).
• Brian Doherty, Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement (New York: PublicAffairs, 2007).
• George Smith, The System of Liberty: Themes in the History of Classical Liberalism (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2013).

History and Theory of Free Market Economics:

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, ed. David R. Henderson (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2008). Also available online at Econlib http://www.econlib.org/library/CEE.html.
• Murray N. Rothbard, An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought: Vol. I Economic Thought before Adam Smith (Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2006).
• Murray N. Rothbard, An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought: Vol. II Classical Economics (Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2006).

Some "Great Books of Liberty"

• my personal selection here
  • Wilhelm von Humboldt, Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Gränzen der Wirksamkeit des Staates zu bestimmen (1792, 1851). Trans. as The Sphere and Duties of Government (1854).
  • Benjamin Constant, Principes de politique, applicables à tous les gouvernemens représentatifs (The Principles of Politics) (1815).
  • Gustave de Molinari, Les Soirées de la rue Saint-Lazare (Conversations on Saint Lazarus Street) (1849
  • Herbert Spencer, Social Statics: or, The Conditions essential to Happiness specified, and the First of them Developed (1851)
  • John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859) and The Subjection of Women (1869) published very suitably together in one volume in 1879.
  • Bruce Smith, Liberty and Liberalism: A Protest against the Growing Tendency toward undue Interference by the State, with Individual Liberty, Private Enterprise and the Rights of Property (1888).
  • Ludwig von Mises, Liberalismus (Liberalism) (1927).
• a larger collection of classic texts: "The Guillaumin Collection" (178 titles by 87 authors)