Philosophy Clear

Philosophy Clear

Why is being a liberal a good political philosophy?

I mean this question in all seriousness. Don't flame anybody, don't call any body names. I want to see clear, consise, well thought arguments for being a liberal and why you think this is the best political philosophy for a society.

I think it is important to distinguish between Classical Liberalism (Thomas Jefferson etc) and current day American Liberalism (the Democratic party).

"Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism[1], laissez-faire liberalism[2], and market liberalism[3] or, outside the United States and Britain, sometimes simply liberalism[citation needed]) is a doctrine stressing individual freedom, free markets, and limited government. This includes the importance of human rationality, individual property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil liberties, individual freedom from restraint, equality under the law, constitutional limitation of government, free markets, and a gold standard to place fiscal constraints on government[4] as exemplified in the writings of John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume, David Ricardo, Voltaire, Montesquieu and others. As such, it is the fusion of economic liberalism with political liberalism of the late 18th and 19th centuries.[2] The "normative core" of classical liberalism is the idea that laissez-faire economics will bring about a spontaneous order or invisible hand that benefits the society,[5] though it does not necessarily oppose the state's provision of some basic public goods with what constitutes public goods being seen as very limited.[6] The qualification classical was applied retroactively to distinguish it from more recent, 20th-century conceptions of liberalism and its related movements, such as social liberalism[7] Classical liberals are suspicious of all but the most minimal government[8] and object to the welfare state[9]."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism

Notice how current day American liberals fit this description in no way, shape, or fashion. They hijacked the word "liberal" and now they're trying to redefine American ideals as something rooted in a collectivist mentality. (as opposed to freedom of the individual)