Short History of American Liberalism

Short History of American Liberalism

Where did American liberalism come from? American liberalism, as we knew it in the twentieth century, developed from the wide acceptance of an observation that capitalism, while wonderfully creative, does not regulate itself satisfactorily. Neat theories notwithstanding, capitalist economies, left to themselves, quite often idle at equilibria that a substantial minority, if not a majority, of citizens find unpleasant or even unendurable.

A summary for those who are a little behind. Is American liberalism just defined by managed capitalism? Now that I think about it, (or rather, now that the Edge of the American West thinks about it for me) there might actually be something to claims from people like John Kerry and Hillary Clinton who always prefer to call themselves “Progressives” when questioned about their liberalism.

See here– Progressivism as defined by wikipedia.

According to John Halpin, senior advisor on the staff of the Center for American Progress, “Progressivism is an orientation towards politics, It’s not a long-standing ideology like liberalism, but an historically-grounded concept… that accepts the world as dynamic.” Progressives see progressivism as an attitude towards the world of politics that is broader than conservatism vs. liberalism, and as an attempt to break free from what they consider to be a false and divisive dichotomy.

Of course if the “Original Observation” from the Edge of the American West was never accepted by the conservative movement, you essentially cannot come together to agree on social progress, because you essentially disagree on the concept of social progress. The dichotomy is concrete. One reason “Hope” might have a little trouble getting started…