RE: Classical Liberalism ... An World View Built on Myth

Classical liberalism is based on ideas that stretch back to antiquity. The philosophy emphasizes individual liberty, economic freedom under the under the rule of law.

Historians tend to trace liberal arts education to the Roman Senator Cicero.

The Roman Republic professed high ideals of liberty. The Roman Republic was a populist movement that favored economic centralization. The empire de-emphasized education and eventually fell into decline.

One of the most important influences of the classical liberal tradition is a collection of works called "The Bible." This book contains a long story about people called Israel who experienced a cycle of liberation and enslavement. The dissenters read The Bible from a classical liberal point of view.

Christianity appeared at a time when the Roman Empire had control of Judea and was ruling with an iron fist. It is likely that the New Testament was written by people who had a liberal arts education. Remember the New Testament was written in Greek.

The world was controlled by emperors and kings and they successfully suppressed the liberal arts in the West. it briefly flourished in the Middle East and Baghdad briefly emerged as the center of intellectual and cultural development.

The ideas of classical liberalism re-appeared in the period that we call "The Renaissance." Specifically, the Florentine Republic decided to build a Republic that would relive the glories of the ancient Roman Republic.

English Barons started pulling the ideas into England after the Magna Carta. A large number of English thinkers such as John Locke explored classical liberal ideas.

Classical liberalism is not a monolithic ideology. I used the term "world view." It is a world view that explores the experiences of different cultures from the past to make a society.

The way I see it is that the US Founders were the culmination of a classical liberal tradition that stretched to antiquity.

After the US revolution, political players sensed a power gap. The left/right split developed among proponents of the monarchy in reaction to the revolution. The French Revolution developed around the left/right split. Robespierre was a wild-eyed progressive and Napoleon was the ambitious conservative.

!wine