Classical Liberalism
Arising from the Age of Reason was a comprehensive political philosophy known as classical liberalism. This philosophy was widely adopted in early America and elsewhere. Ironically, many MAGAs mistakenly believe that liberalism is a dirty, forbidden word. The mere mention of the word in some parts of America will cause “patriots” to whip out their AR-15s.
Classical liberalism was the primary philosophical foundation for modern Republicanism. According to Wikipedia, “classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech.” Classical liberalism had many beneficial principles and many that remain valid.
This version of liberalism was paramount in the USA during its founding and until a series of economic depressions created an unmistakable problem. However, the crisis in classical liberalism became obvious when wealthy investors who championed classical liberalism started jumping out of windows on Wall Street in 1929. The rest of society soon found the domestic economy grinding to a near halt. Literal panics led to the collapse of about 7,000 American banks during the Great Depression. It is front-page news if one or two banks fail in 2023. Imagine the ongoing banking panics after 1929.
There were several contributing factors to the Great Depression. Among them were uncontrolled market speculation, uncontrolled tariff wars between countries, an uncontrolled banking system, and the uncontrolled climatic change known as the Dust Bowl. I could detail these causes, but I will cut to the chase. The proximate cause of the Great Depression was the lack of controls over market speculation, tariffs, banks, and agriculture (uncontrolled agricultural practices essentially created the Dust Bowl.)
Coming out of European protectionist mercantilism and autocratic-controlled marketplaces in the 1700s, the principles of classical liberalism made a lot of sense. Portions of classical liberalism still make sense, especially in the context of a command economy created by a left or right-wing autocracy. However, the fundamental flaw with classical liberalism after 1932 lies in its insistence that government should stay out of the economy. The classical liberal worships at the altar of Adam Smith while fervently believing in their sacred religion of the invisible hand and an unfettered free market.
The New Deal in the USA, the defeat of the fanatical totalitarian aggressors in World War II, and the demise of colonialism set the world economy on a different course. Governments would no longer stand idly by while their respective economies failed and their citizens starved. An interventionist version of liberalism (which I will call proactive liberalism) replaced classical liberalism after World War II. If there were “woke” Americans in 1932, they would have recognized that classical liberalism engineered devastating crises and massive inequality.
It is an unassailable fact that America’s proactive liberalism resulted in 78 years of unparalleled prosperity. Apocalyptic predictions by classical liberals, libertarians, John Birchers, and others that America would become a communist wasteland have been proven silly. Some individuals and corporations have failed due to market pressures or incompetence, but overall, America has flourished. Likewise, various administrations have made wise and foolish decisions. There have been ups and downs, but in sum, America became the dominant world power because of a proactive, progressive form of liberalism. America’s economy is still imperfect, and progress is slower than it should be. However, the alternatives proffered by classical liberals and libertarians tend, whether they intend it or not, to result in some form of anarchy (e.g., riots in the streets) or autocracy (e.g., oligopoly, kleptocracy, etc.)
Classical Liberalism Will Not Die
Despite the shattering experience of the Great Depression, classical liberalism did not go away. Periodically, the surviving classical liberals and their kissing cousins, libertarians, will find a political champion to remove a few governmental controls from the banking system, environmental protection, investor protection, etc. They are also willing to turn lemons into lemonade by trying to privatize programs like Social Security.
Why didn’t classical liberalism go away after 1932? One reason is the simplest. America is a capitalist society, and capitalists generally seek to maximize profits. Profits can be increased in the short run if the government is feeble. Corporations seek to pay fewer taxes, have fewer environmental restrictions, have fewer records to keep and disclosures to make, and have limits on their liability to pay damages to consumers. Likewise, those with inherited wealth, while not active capitalists, tend to defend their idle lifestyles by trying to minimize the taxes they pay.
Despite the hyperbole of propaganda by the agents of modern-day classical liberals, libertarians, and John Birchers, America has not become the next communist Venezuela. Capitalism is alive and well in the USA. Most Americans (even some old-school Republicans) understand the need for reasonable taxes, environmental laws, corporate disclosures, etc. When reminded, most educated and truly patriotic Americans refuse to return to the old principles of uncontrolled classical liberalism.
All functioning democracies find ways to balance the needs of competing interests. Unfortunately, sometimes the forces of outdated classical liberalism go too far and attack the foundations of democracy itself. The wealthy forces of outdated classical liberalism push back against sensible laws that try to serve all individuals and corporations fairly. Like an autoimmune disease, when the classical liberal establishment goes into full attack mode, it injures the economy’s and society’s lifeblood. This reveals the hidden agenda of some extreme classical liberals and libertarians to weaken democracy so they can refashion it into a monopoly or oligopoly.
Some corporations retain intellectuals, consultants, media opinion leaders, judges, and representatives to maximize profits and fight against governmental intervention. They develop simple slogans for the acquiescent, create comprehensive propaganda campaigns, invent novel legal strategies, and try influencing the government directly by electing representatives who undermine sensible laws.
In 2023 our fundamental problem is not combating tyranny from a distant land. Instead, we find America in conflict with itself. America’s post-Great Depression success has highlighted a growing inequity within the country. The classical liberals have used this inequity to create a wedge between the “established order” and those left out of America’s success. They blame proactive liberals for most of the damage actually committed by classical liberals. Today’s version of extreme classical liberals seeks to maximize profits and the public good be damned. The meaning of Walt Kelly’s quote on the right refers to man’s maltreatment of the earth; however, it can also refer to the maltreatment of our democracy by classical liberals, libertarians, John Birchers, and the MAGA hoard.
Don’t Tread on Me*
One of the keystones for classical liberals and libertarians is non-interference by the government in their affairs. They want the government to maintain their preconceived version of the social order but not much else. One symbol of their demand for limited government is the Gadsden Flag. The Gadsden Flag, created during the Revolutionary War, has become a versatile warning message frequently used by classical liberals, libertarians, John Birchers, and the MAGA crowd. It has been used to tell the government to stay out of their business and, more generally, to warn everyone to do the same. Most states that elected Donald Trump in 2016 now have specialty license plates with the Gadsden design.
There is an asterisk * next to the title of this section to indicate a qualifier or a footnote for the title. The qualifier was inserted to indicate that the primary emphasis in “Don’t tread on me” should be on the word ME. Additionally, the folks who now promote the Gadsden Flag should add another sentence to their specialty license plates, to be completely honest. The additional sentence should be “But I can tread on YOU.”
Lord, save us from those imposing their doctrinaire religious “freedom” on those reluctant to accept their precious gift. Florida is an example of the obvious duplicity of the fanatical Evangelical, the MAGA crowd, and the classical liberal’s determined effort to “limit” government. The current Florida governor goes way beyond his legal limits and treads on the necks of educators, women, the LGBT+ community, immigrants, journalists, and even corporations like Disney. Throughout the country, classical liberals, libertarians, and the MAGA crowd have voted together and conformed to a common narrative. Despite some equivocations and double-talk, they have used their collective evangelical religion, racism, and quirky political philosophies to restrict the rights of and to tread on the necks of unwilling American victims.
Other Victims of Classical Liberalism
Ironically, aside from those directly in the crosshairs of the classical liberals’ AK-47s, the Americans most susceptible to their siren song are those most harmed by classical liberals. While large corporations that support classical liberalism often benefit economically depressed regions in the short run, they have also shipped a large number of manufacturing jobs overseas. Likewise, large corporations extract tax and land use concessions from depressed areas, often leaving the region more impoverished when they go. They also strong-arm the government to relax costly safety regulations, inevitably leading to literal train wrecks and hazardous waste disasters.
The local, state, and federal governments often have their fingerprints on economic development projects that maximize corporate profits in the short run but harm the localities in the long run. An accurate classical liberal slogan for corporations should be “Corporations are not free unless they control government.”
Speaking of corporate freedom, the proliferation of assault weapons in America since 1994 proves that powerful gun-related corporations have had COMPLETE free political reign over the governments of most states in America.
There were efforts between 1972 and 2010 to limit and control political donations. However, in 2010 the Supreme Court case named “Citizens United” virtually eliminated all financial constraints on political influence. It increased the power of wealthy donors and corporations and opened the floodgates for a new form of political influence known as “dark money.” Dark money allows unlimited spending from ANONYMOUS sources to flow into the bank accounts of legislators who, among many activities, continue to derail any progress toward gun control.
The crowning achievement of classical liberals, aside from the elections of the actors Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, is achieving a majority of classical liberals and religious extremists on the US Supreme Court.
Classical liberals and libertarians have also achieved the narrative high ground by convincing a sizable number of gullible American citizens that government is ALWAYS their enemy. Their simple response to any problem is to blame the government and, implicitly, Democracy itself. Their only reason for a government is to pass laws to protect the free market’s sacred “invisible hand” and their personal freedoms, lives, and private property. We should carefully listen to the ridiculous things self-assured classical liberals say to convince their acolytes of their wisdom.
The End Game for Another Nice Mess
“Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” Spoken by Oliver Hardy to Stan Laurel
The once proud corps of classical liberals, libertarians, and traditional Republicans are now up to their necks in Trump’s swamp with TEA Party remnants and chattering MAGA minions. While regretting their predicament, only a few old stalwarts have crawled out, and the rest have stayed while holding their noses and treading mud. These poor mud-sucking Republicans contradict almost everything they once stood for.
Veronique de Rugy sums up the plight of traditional Republicans who were unilaterally rebranded as RINOs by Trump:
“Republicans today stand for nothing, and on the rare occasions that they do stand for something, that something is woeful. From protectionism to vile anti-immigration rhetoric, from government-engineered paid leave to the extended child tax credit, and from threatening to punish big tech and to impose industrial policy, with a contingent shouting “free-markets are actually bad”, the party is in disarray intellectually – a fact that plausibly contributes to its current disarray politically.” Nov 18 2022, Econlog
While keeping a straight face, the confused Republican Party has zigzagged from promoting democracy, free trade, and pax-Americana (under George W. Bush) to promoting autocracy, nativism, and isolationism (under Trump.) While assuring financial conservatives that they were the party of misers, the two most significant increases in the national debt occurred directly because of the tax giveaways by Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Remember those gaslighting national debt monitors on Republican websites that prominently reminded us that the national debt had gone up $100,000 in the last 30 seconds?
The disconnect between what Republicans say and what they do has become large enough to declare the creation of a new artificial country. Computers have created artificial intelligence. Why shouldn’t Republicans create an artificial country?
I see the emergence of a fantasy nation we could call Republicana. I call it Republicana instead of Trump World because the Republican Party has itself to blame for the takeover by the Trump crowd. The Party made a deal with the devil, and now they are stuck with an abusive husband who will not give them a divorce.
Republicana is a parallel country that operates by different rules and assumptions. Truth, laws, verified facts, and principles are no longer required. The policy contradictions are glossed over with the same sort of lies spoken by the Confederates who glossed over slavery (i.e., the war was fought over state’s rights.) The only requirements for the citizens of Republicana are to be entertained and continually assured by Republicana News that they are still on the right side of Republicana history. Their country is real because Republicana News tells them their country is real.
This new fantasy nation of Republicana has been implied by many and is the culmination of a party that operates without moral or policy compasses. Doctrinaire classical liberals still living in Republicana are implicitly stuck in the circular logic of their political dogma. A Wall Street Journal opinion article from October 13, 2017, by Yoram Hazony, wryly articulated this issue:
“Once you start trying to understand politics by learning from experience rather than by deducing your views from 17th-century rationalist dogma, you never know what you may end up discovering.”
Republicana is only inhabited by those Republicans who are either true believers or hangers-on. Unless there are more true believers than I think, the vast majority living in Republicana are the defeated Republican hangers-on. However, there is a varied assortment of awakened Republicans who live outside Republicana. Most living outside Republicana have been driven out of active participation in the party, one way or the other. Only a few brave or foolish souls who remain in active positions straddle the fantasy land of Republicana and the actual United States of America. No wonder these folks caught between Republicana and the real world become tongue-tied while confronted by a subpoena.
Currently, the end-game strategy by the citizens of Republicana seems to be more of the same, building on their past “success.” Will the “success” of Republicana force today’s Republican Party to eventually go the way of its long-forgotten predecessors, the Whig Party and the No Nothings? Undoubtedly, Republicana News will provide the answer in the future if Republicana News still exists.
If we want to go off the deep end, we could speculate that Donald Trump was a clever plant by the Deep State to mutate the Republican Party into Republicana. The party wreckers could also be alien lizards or the Pizzagate child sex trafficking ring. However, my bet is on Adam Smith’s mysterious and all-powerful invisible hand.