Classic American Liberalism
When I see people making post-liberal arguments, they often go something like this; “Well, it’s the failings of Liberalism that led us to this place,” “Liberalism was inevitably going to lead to this,” or “Liberalism is unequipped to deal with the problems we are facing.”
Then, they often make some kind of argument for more authoritarian measures (either “temporary” or long-lasting) and solutions that would end up in the abandonment of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
I even recently saw someone ask, “Well, who’s going to decide what kind of system we need?”
That is incredible to me because it displays a complete lack of understanding of our nation’s founding principles. Our nation’s constitution, as it is.
The above claims regarding Liberalism’s supposed failure are all fallacious. We don’t need a “new” system. We already have the best model of governance the world has ever known. It is not perfect, as no system is, but it provides us with a scaffolding from which to build a society capable of delivering happiness to the greatest number of people possible.
What has happened is not a failure of Classical Liberalism, it is an abandonment of Classical Liberalism’s ethos over time and a deliberate subversion of the freedom it guarantees by replacing it with a totalizing ideology that is fully illiberal.
When we talk about saving Classical American Liberalism, we are not referring to going back to a specific, bygone era, but instead a return to the metaphysical ethos America was born of.
Classical American Liberalism’s philosophy is informed by ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment, notably from the Scottish School of Common Sense and it is these notions that the Founding Fathers embraced.
Common sense provides a secure platform from which to stand because these are ideas and understandings observable and apparent to all. We don’t need philosopher kings, a soviet, or a credentialed class to explain it to us. It is a system of belief available to each of us, no matter our position in society. This was deliberate by the Founders. They were intent on rejecting the gatekeeping and impositions of a monarchy which exploited stratifications within society. Within Classical Liberalism, the everyday man gets to participate and benefit.
Common sense beliefs are formed through the observation of first principles (self-evident truths), rationality, intuition, and a rejection of skepticism. They are the “every day” experiences of man. They honor the individual because it is a recognition that the individual has the agency and capability necessary to observe the world around him and know that objective reality and truth are available to him.
Contrast that with Woke (Postmodern and Neo-Marxist ideology), which says that there is no objective reality, only subjective perception that crafts truths which may or may not be available to each man, depending on his position in the power matrix. In that belief system there is no common foundation to ground oneself with his fellow man. He becomes cynical, skeptical, and reliant on some outside authority separate from himself to inform him. In that system of belief, we have no shared existence. This is the world we find ourselves in currently. Unmoored, flailing in the turbulent seas of Idealism. Many of our problems could be solved if we reached down to our founding roots and applied the guiding principles of Realism to ground us.
Classical American Liberalism is founded on ideas of human agency and morality. These moral and ethical considerations are based in common sense and are influenced by Judeo-Christian values such as civic virtue, moral responsibility, the contributions of the individual to society. They are common sense because we accept that objective, moral truths exist, independent of individual people’s opinions of right or wrong, or their own subjective experiences that deviate from the ordinary. It is obvious to us that there are certain actions that are good and those that are bad. Contrast that with Postmodernism’s theory of cultural relativism, which argues that no culture is superior to another because one society cannot judge another by its own values. Postmodern ideas such as this are incompatible with Classical American Liberalism.
If we apply the metaphysics of Classical American Liberalism, we can see that Woke ideology is irreconcilable. I’ll share some writing from the Founding Fathers to illustrate what I mean and while these quotes are not necessarily addressing the specific contemporary issue at hand, it’s the spirit of the founding ideals that can be applied.
Madison was speaking here to the idea of a system of governance predicated on the knowledge of Man’s possession of liberty, inherently, endowed by his creator. Everything else flows from that pronouncement. Government does not grant Man his liberty, he already possesses it. Rather, government’s role is to ensure his liberty is not infringed upon. This is a concept not enshrined in any other nation’s founding at that time.
Madison speaks of one of the most fundamental rights enshrined to us; private property ownership. The Founders recognized that property ownership is the cornerstone of liberty because it is this that facilitates Man’s autonomy as an individual. It doesn’t just refer to physical property, however. It’s also the idea of Man’s ability to direct his own life.
We can see this concept under attack in many aspects of Woke ideology. The impositions of Environmental Social Governance (ESG), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), the WHO Pandemic Accord Treaty and a multiplicity of initiatives composed of alliances between government, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental entities such as the United Nations, the WHO, and the WEF, all threaten the idea of private property. They are incompatible with Classical American Liberalism.
Jefferson and Adams would have agreed that businesses, corporations and individuals being compelled to meet ESG and DEI requirements are a burdensome and offensive intrusion of government that meddles with business and industry, interferes with property and the pursuit of the People’s interests. It is an encroachment of tyranny.
Franklin’s quote here makes it clear that DEI and similar policies based on preferencing one group or individual based on immutable characteristics and subjective parameters based on identity do not align with our Constitutional values.
Education has been the tip of the spear for ideological subversion. The Founders believed strongly in the importance of an educated populace and believed that this was a crucial component of preserving a nation founded on ideas of liberty. Social Emotional Learning (SEL), ESG, and Queer Theory pedagogies rob children of their individual agency, their right to a stable learning environment, and undermine the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children. School is for the formation of an educated populace who will be productive, happy, and successful in a society that they strive to preserve. It is not intended to create generations of activists. A culture stripped of its moral values and limiting principles in favor of an ideology that embraces a lack of limiting principles, and a denial of objective truth can only end in ruin. Children deprived of a true education are denied precious knowledge.
Communitarianism in the guise of the UN and related organizations is an exercise of overreach and a blatant violation of America’s sovereignty. These initiatives bypass voters and use taxpayer funds. The citizens subject to them are not represented by consent. The Founders spoke specifically to the dangers of power being accumulated in unjust ways and the necessity of enforcing limitations to reign unchecked power in.
Adams recognized the essentialness of a just legal system in ordering a functioning society that preserves liberty. Today’s injustices are innumerable and unforgivable; selective prosecution of criminals, the use of lawfare to punish individuals and institutions, tolerance of lawlessness and violence, and blatant corruption. This is all chaos that infringes on liberty and degrades the ability of the individual to operate in an ordered social system. It is anarcho-tyranny.
It is not the fate of Liberalism to descend into such chaos because it has limiting principles inherent to its disposition that act as safeguards to anarchy, despotism, malfeasance and antisocial behavior. Classical American Liberalism embraces ideas such as rule of law, civic responsibility, and the protection of individual liberty. A judicial system that balances the rights of citizens with the wellbeing of society (by deterring and punishing crime) is an essential component of safeguarding a Liberal society. Applying limiting principles encourages a society that is oriented in the direction of reality and not abstraction. From there, each participant in society can understand that to participate, he is agreeing to this order.
The attack on free speech and thought, and on freedom of assembly has been particularly atrocious. The Founders were justly repulsed by any regime who would seek to limit its populace’s ability to communicate. The censorship of individuals and platforms, and the compulsion of speech and belief to be in alignment with ideology today has been shocking. We’ve seen selective punishment meted out to those who dared to not comply with certain ideas such as implicit bias, privilege, sexual identities, etc.
Woke ideology’s demands are not in alignment with our founding ideals.
The takeover of information via a merger of regime/government interests and mass media in furtherance of ideological aims and political positioning has been astounding. The manipulation of the public’s perceptions by a compromised press beholden to the state is a life-threatening wound to our nation that would horrify the Founders. They were emphatic on their position regarding free speech and the ability of the populace to communicate with one another, unencumbered by government intrusion or manipulation. Information or opinions that the public has the right to discuss or express have been obstructed from the free marketplace of ideas by measures such as deplatforming, firings, lawfare and intense pressure by the government against social media companies and individuals.
Reading through these quotes, these thoughtful and wise ideas expressed by the men who crafted our nation’s founding ethos, we can see that Classical American Liberalism gives us the solutions to what ails us. Our founding documents guarantee us liberty, the ability to seek prosperity, economic freedom, a limited government, a sovereign nation and the primacy of the individual, existing within a moral framework that benefits the interests of the whole. This is because Classical American Liberalism is informed by the philosophy of Realism.
There is so much more that can be said in favor of the astounding beauty that is Classical American Liberalism, but I won’t go on further here. Our Founders had such insight, such a vision for a nation founded on liberty and justice, it really is a miracle. We can’t lose it, and we don’t have to. We need to elect leaders who will embrace and revive these principles and fight for us to reject the illiberalism threatening to destroy America. It can be done. Our Founding Fathers provided the blueprint for us to do just that.
Liberty Belle the 355 posts on X in advocacy for a revival of Classical American Liberalism & in opposition to collectivist ideologies.
