Liberalism And Freedom Essay - 2849 Words

Liberalism and Freedom Liberalism is a force that has produced change from the birth of this nation to the politics of today. Liberal tenets have been a basis of thought and action in American politics since well before the signing of the Constitution. Certainly, liberalism has had to transform in order to remain a legitimate force throughout the years. When considering this transformation, one may ask whether or not the ideas and goals of classical liberalism have been lost in the conversion into modern liberalism. In order to answer this, the areas of freedom, the role of government, human nature, and the function of law should be addressed. While this may not be a complete register of change in liberalism, research into these†¦show more content†¦The Declaration of Independence embodied these thoughts precisely and clearly. When Thomas Jefferson wrote about the quot;inalienable rights... life, liberty and the pursuit of happinessquot; he was speaking of the inherent rights of man and went further to declare that any government that chooses to dispel these rights is subject to overthrow by the governed. In short Jefferson was saying that the right of the government to rule is derived from the peoples ability to utilize and approve of their level of independence. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Modern America embraces and reveres the ideals above. This leaves modern liberalism with the chore of expanding these rights. The focus has now shifted from the attainment of these rights to the perfection of them. In the above statement I mean to show that liberal ideas of freedom and liberty have changed considerably. This can be clarified by the following quote: quot;A man who was poor, uneducated, ill-housed, and subject to the fluctuations economic cycle could not be considered free though he lived in a nation whose government abided by the tenets of laissez-faire. True liberty, liberals began to contend, required the ability of man to use his talents and energies in a constructive nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;fashion-it meant the positive freedom to achieve and accomplish.quot; (Volkomer, 4) This quotation suggests that modern liberalsShow MoreRelatedDoes Liberalism Really Offer the Most Freedom?726 Words   |  3 Pagesgreatest amount of individual freedom? Why or why not? Libertarianism offers great amounts of individual freedom to the people governed under it. Whether it truly offers the greatest amount of freedom in comparison to other forms of political theory is highly debatable and very subjective in nature. 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