Ideologies

1. Ideologies • Ideologies are not static nor set in stone. They respond to political events, as much as they affect political events.

2. History of modern ideologies • Classical liberalism rose in the Enlightenment. Important thinkers: • John Locke • Adam Smith • de Montesquieu • Rousseau • The framers of the Declaration of Independence • and, later, John Stuart Mill • The U.S. is a classical liberal democracy.

3. Ideologies, continued • Conservative thought arose in response to the excesses of the French Revolution of 1789. Important thinker: Edmund Burke. • In the U.S., conservative thought also blended with classical liberalism.

4. Ideologies, continued • In the 19th century, socialism, communism and anarchism were responses to the economic distresses brought by industrial capitalism.

5. Ideologies, continued • Fascism and its most extreme form, Nazism, developed in the early 20th century as a reaction against the perceived failings of liberalism, conservatism, socialism and communism.

6. Ideologies, continued • New ideologies emerge in response to new needs. Developing out of (and in reaction to) liberalism in late 20th century were: • Environmentalism • Feminism

7. Absolute despotism once had to be accepted • Before classical liberalism, the dominant idea was that God created political society, not people. • Monarchs ruled through divine right. • If people suffered under a bad king, it was God’s will. Disobeying a bad king was a sin; killing a bad king was regicide. • Therefore, people had a duty to accept and obey (view of Robert Filmer in Patriarcha).

8. John Locke • View of the state of nature (pre-civil society) • Human beings are rational, free & equal. They are capable of running their own lives. • They have rights to life, health, liberty and possessions that no one should harm. • Yet there are no mechanisms (no police, no courts, etc.) to ensure that the strong do not prey upon the weak.

9. John Locke, continued • To secure their rights, therefore, people give up some freedom and form government. The government’s purpose is to protect rights. It is a type of contract. • The people retain their sovereignty, and the government is just a mechanism to help them. The individual is superior to the government.

10. John Locke, continued • If government fails to protect those rights and becomes tyrannical, then the contract is null and void. The government loses its legitimacy, and people are free to make a new government. [The Second Treatise on Government] • Called a “right of revolution.”

11. Adam Smith His famous work, The Wealth of Nations, provides the theoretical basis for capitalism. • What makes him liberal?

12. Adam Smith, continued • The emphasis on rationality, the ability of individuals to make decisions to advance their own self-interest. The idea that government should leave people alone to make their own economic choices. • In fact, individual selfish choices would serve the common good through the invisible hand of the market.

13. Classical liberalism – key ideas • Human beings are rational and equal • Small & limited government is best • Government rules with the consent of the governed • Individual rights important: • tolerance of dissent & freedom of conscience • free marketplace • ideal of political equality & democratic process

14. Why is the U.S. considered a classical liberal government? • Key classical liberal ideas appear in the founding documents, particularly the Declaration of Independence.

15. Liberalism in the Declaration of Independence • All men are created equal. Ideal of political and legal equality. • They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, ...among these are life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. • Governments are instituted to protect those rights. • Government derives its powers from the consent of the governed.Political authority is in the people, acting through representatives. • When a government becomes destructive of those rights the people have a right to alter or abolish it.

16. Locke & Smith on Equality • Their view was that people in the state of nature are equal in their rights, but not in their talents or their wealth. • Economic inequality is not necessarily unfair, since it is based on people’s free choices. • Freedom to make choices is a higher value than equality.

17. Evolution of liberalism • The result was laissez faire capitalism. Terrible economic & social conditions for workers, including children. Government powerless to act. • Led to rethinking liberalism. A good society might need more than right procedures. It also needed certain outcomes.

18. Evolution, continued • The philosophy of Utilitarianism emerged. Governments should pursue policies that create the greatest good (or utility) for the greatest number of people. • This utility calculation would provide a rational guideline for government policy. • Utilitarianism was a challenge to the status quo. The demand that everyone count for one, and one only, was seen as wrong to the elitist society of Britain

19. Further developments • After utilitarianism (which never caught on in the U.S.), liberalism developed into Social Justice or Modern Liberalism. • Modern liberalism is not fearful of government power. Instead, government power can be a force for good, limiting the worst conditions of poverty, illiteracy, racism, exploitation, etc. • The basis of progressive or liberal politics in the U.S.

20. A different view of freedom • T.H. Green (1836-1882) • Freedom means the ability as well as the right to do something. Expansive liberty. • Two types of freedom: • Negative freedom: freedom from government intervention (e.g., Bill of Rights). – often associated with Classical Liberal thinking • Positive freedom: freedom of/to: requires government to intervene in social & economic spheres (e.g., education, health care, housing). Later associated with Modern Liberal thinking

21. A different view of freedom • A newer line of liberal thinkers saw government as being responsible for creating the conditions for freedom. • This view implies an active and interventionist government. • Take an unemployed and homeless woman for example. Classical liberals would consider her free because government does not restrain her. But is she really free to make rational choices?

22. An activist view of government • Jane Addams (1860-1935) • Founded Hull House to serve the poor in Chicago in 1889. Pushed for laws to improve working and living conditions for the poor. • Promoted government action in education, better sanitation, & women’s right to vote.

23. Evolution of Modern Liberalism • Key thinker: J.S. Mill (1806-1873) • He worked with his wife & intellectual partner Harriet Taylor Mill (1807-1858)

24. John Stuart Mill • English political theorist • Wrote On Liberty in 1859 • Also wrote a book in favour of women’s rights • He is considered a bridge between classical liberalism and modern liberalism

25. On Liberty • Mill argued in favour of freedom of thought and discussion. • "We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion, and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still."

26. The value of freedom of thought • The opinion may be true. We are not infallible. • The opinion may be partly true, and the truth can only emerge after free and full debate. • The opinion may be false, but debate is still valuable because it keeps our views from becoming dead dogma or rigid biases.

27. On Liberty • Throughout this book, Mill exhibits a deep concern with tyranny, both political and social. What is social tyranny?

28. On Liberty • “The tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling, ... the tendency of society to impose... its own ideas and practices as rules of conduct on those who dissent from them, ... to prevent the formation of any individuality not in harmony with its ways.”

29. Social tyranny & conformity • The individual has a sovereign right over his or her self, body and mind, a right to be free of societal interference in our lives. • Does that mean that society can NEVER interfere in our choices? • If not, when can it? What is the guiding principle?

30. From “On Liberty” • “The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively... in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection."

31. From “On Liberty” • Society can interfere, but for one reason only: to stop harm to others. Society may protect itself and other individuals. • But society may NOT interfere in order to protect us from our own bad choices. • So, is does a behaviour affect others? Or only ourselves?

32. Can society interfere? • A 75-year old man who is slowly and painfully dying of cancer decides to end his life. NO

33. Can society interfere? • An NDHS student reads Mein Kampf and thinks that Adolph Hitler had some great ideas. NO

34. Can society interfere? • Two adult gay men decide to set up a home together. NO

35. Can society interfere? • That NDHS student who likes Hitler’s ideas organizes an anti-Semitic rally outside the home of a rabbi at 2 a.m. • Can society interfere, according to Mill?

36. Can society interfere? • YES • Why? • A. In conduct, the individual “must not make himself a nuisance to other people.” • B. This conduct might lead to an act of violence. Mill gave the example of publishing the view that corn dealers starve the poor, which is a protected activity, versus a speech before an excited mob outside the home of a corn dealer, which is not.

37. Can society interfere? • A 14-year-old decides to drop out of school in order to get a job. • Can society interfere? Why or why not? YES. WHY? People who are under the legal age of adulthood are excluded; society may regulate them for their own good.

38. Can society interfere? • Two men are boating on Dried Meat Lake without life jackets. NO

39. Can society interfere? • Two men are boating on Dried Meat Lake without life jackets and they are drinking heavily. YES. WHY? THEY POSE A RISK TO OTHERS

40. Can society interfere? • The two men are now on shore, somewhat sober. One man, who can’t swim, slips into the water and drowns. The other man just stands and watches. YES. WHY? WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR FAILURE TO ACT TO STOP HARM.

41. Mill and Foreign Policy • Would Mill have agreed with U.S. military intervention to throw out a dictator and help establish a democracy?

42. Mill and Foreign Policy • “I am not aware that any community has a right to force another to be civilized. So long as the sufferers by the bad law do not invoke assistance from other communities, I cannot admit that persons entirely unconnected with them ought to step in...” • What do you think?