The Liberal Mind Trick

"No more training do you require. Already know you, that which you need."
--Yoda (Return of the Jedi)

Today, the term 'liberal' means something much different than it did prior to 1900. Classical liberalism concerns the freedom and sovereignty of the individual. The theoretical framework for classical liberalism was greatly advanced during the Enlightenment period by thinkers such as John Locke.

Classical liberalism formed the philosophical basis for the United States. It is clear from our founding documents that the founders were highly influenced by liberal thought. For example, Jefferson pretty much cut and pasted words from Locke into the Declaration.

The meaning of liberal was altered during the populist and progressive movements of the late 1800s/early 1900s. Some believe this was an effort by enemies of liberty to alter language in a manner that creates positive substitute symbols. Essentially the idea is to keep a word that has emotional meaning among the citizenry, but change its meaning. Over time, the theory goes, the people will embrace the new definition.

It's a form of propaganda, cookie, and consistent with the militant principle of creating chaos with language.

Job seemingly well done, as today's definition of liberal is about as far removed from the classic meaning as could be imagined. Today, a liberal is someone who favors the collective over the individual. Someone who believes that it is ok to impair liberty for some greater good--often in the name of 'social justice.'

Modern liberalism is full of inconsistency, irony, and paradox. Today's liberals profess peace and non-violence, but recruit the State, by far and away the most coercive force in the history of the world, as their primary agent for strong-arming their agendas on those who resist. Today's liberals claim to value diversity, but chat up democracy and 'one world' orders that ignore the innate variety of the human condition and suppress the desires of the few in favor of the many.

Classical liberalism stands for individuals pursuing their destinies in an uncertain world. Modern liberalism stands for forcing individuals into collective pursuit of stabilizing that uncertain world.

Mises (1949) understood that forced pursuit of such stabilization is impossible, and that it is destined to end in chaos.

Reference

Mises, L. 1949. Human action. New Haven: Yale University Press.