Liberalism Reunited
Classical liberals must rejoin left liberals in fighting for emancipatory politics and against the illiberal right.
In one form or another, liberalism used to stretch across almost the entire American political spectrum. Policy debates were about how to implement liberal democratic government, not whether liberalism should be overturned.
It was nice while it lasted.
Liberals on the political left were typically comfortable with political and cultural activism. But classical liberals, often on the right, hoped to discourage politics itself, perhaps altogether, by reducing politics’ scope and relevance. Left liberals campaigned for marriage equality, while some liberals on the right argued we could find peace by getting the government out of marriage. Because of their alliance with traditional conservatives, classical liberals didn’t offer the same positive arguments for cultural liberalism as they made for economic liberalism. That alliance is over. Maybe it has been for a long time. …
Continue reading this article by Janet Bufton, “Liberalism Reunited,” here: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberalism-reunited/