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Originally Posted by
CoccoBill
Out of curiosity, which ones do you oppose?
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1. Individual Autonomy:
This tenet is about how the basis of society is the individual and how humans are usually motivated by self interest.
Sounds good. Though it should be noted that people are always motivated by self-interest instead of usually.
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2. Individual Rights:
The second tenet states that all individuals must be equal and have the same rights as all other individuals including the right to protection of rights, use of reason, respect of others choices and decisions, and political equality. Some examples of key rights are freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and the right to property.
I'm not sure what they're going for here. I do not believe that people have a right to "use of reason", "respect of others' choices and decisions", or "political equality" (whatever that is). "Rights" are things that individuals have between themselves and the government. Like I have the right for government to not tell me what I can or cannot say.
The interaction between individual and individual regarding rights like speech is super complex. The quoted tenet goes far enough to say that the rights are between individual and individual instead of between individual and government. The tenet implies that I can stop you from saying something I don't want you to say. This is antithetical to what the "rights" really are.
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3. Religious Tolerance:
Religious tolerance creates a separation of church and state. People must respect each others faith and religious values and allow them to worship as they please.
Same as the above, and I'll add that, it's the government that has to respect your religious practice, not me. I can disrespect your religion as much as I want. The only thing I can't do is obstruct your private property that you use to practice your religion.
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4.Popular sovereignty and consent:
This tenet states that the government should get its power from the people of whom it governs. Its also states that the power should rest in the hands of the people and not an elite type figure.
I don't see anything concrete here.
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5. Limited and representative government:
The fifth tenet is about how the government should have clearly defined powers and its role in society should also be made clear. The governments purpose is to protect an individuals rights to life, liberty, and the pursue of happiness. The government also represents the peoples interests which implies a representative government, the rule of law majority rule, and a constitutional government.
Rights of individuals and majority rule are contradictions in terms. This contradiction in terms is very difficult to solve for, because that which government has power to intervene on is not a "right" anymore and becomes about majority rule (when democratic). The only way I can think of to solve this problem is to prohibit government intervention into the space itself. That creates rights for individuals that cannot be overturned by a majority.
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6. Private property:
The sixth tenet states that society should put less restrictions on the accumulation of private property and instead encourage it. Liberalism defends capitalism and implies free economic market economy, competition, and equal opportunity for all.
I'm down with less (*fewer) restrictions on how people use their private property, but not down with government encouraging it. Government should stay out of it, not select any winners or losers.
I would say that a free market economy implies competition, but not equal opportunity for all. Equal opportunity is a not a reasonable thing, it's not real, it's not something that would benefit people to pursue. A free market economy instead implies optimal opportunity given individual circumstances. And those will never be equal nor should we want them to be.
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7. Universalism and Progress:
The last tenet of liberalism is about how all people are, in the end, the same, meaning that the only things that separate them are things like their culture, religion, and nationality. These parts of society are what make one person more advanced or powerful then the other.
This tenet states that people are the same then states ways people are not the same.
I don't think things like differences in cultures are throwaways. They're big, big deals.
I'll add that this last tenet shines of the core mistake that characterizes "the left" well these days: the idea that people are fundamentally good. No, people are not fundamentally good. Some people will give you the shirt off their backs, others will stab you in the back. Some cultures will revert you to the stone age, others will take you to the moon.
Thanks for the list.
