4 ms·

I take liberalism as a belief in the values of freedom. I would probably argue that it also requires egalitarianism, i.e. equality and universality. I'm Austr

I take liberalism as a belief in the values of freedom. I would probably argue that it also requires egalitarianism, i.e. equality and universality. I'm Australian so I don't know if the US has different connotations for these terms. We could spend (and I just may) hours writing about liberalism but it comes down to freedom to do as you will provided it does not impinge upon the right of others to do the same. In this sense the "veil of ignorance" is also useful as we should select those things that we would wish existed in society if we did not know our position (i.e. we would probably tend to maximise the overall quality of society, and raise the minimum level).

gaius 17y ago
When we say liberal we mean what the Americans call "libertarian". When Americans say liberal, they mean what we call "socialist".
anamax 17y ago
> In this sense the "veil of ignorance" is also useful as we should select those things that we would wish existed in society if we did not know our position (i.e. we would probably tend to maximise the overall quality of society, and raise the minimum level). I've noticed that folks who make that argument actually don't care about raising the minimum level but about minimizing the range. For example, they think that being poor in the US is bad because of the rich, but look at what the poor in the US have.
anamax 17y ago
> We could spend (and I just may) hours writing about liberalism but it comes down to freedom to do as you will provided it does not impinge upon the right of others to do the same. Nice thought, but do you object to me owning "naughty" synthetic images? How about a gun? Can I refuse to associate with "those" people? How about hire them, lend them money, or rent my property to them? Can I allow smoking (tobacco) at my biz? Do you care which drugs I use in my own home?
johnnybgoode 17y ago
Unfortunately, this is kind of vague. I could easily spin this to refer to either actual liberalism (support for individual liberty) or social democracy (Progressivism). Which one do you mean?

gaius 17y ago

When we say liberal we mean what the Americans call "libertarian". When Americans say liberal, they mean what we call "socialist".

anamax 17y ago

> In this sense the "veil of ignorance" is also useful as we should select those things that we would wish existed in society if we did not know our position (i.e. we would probably tend to maximise the overall quality of society, and raise the minimum level). I've noticed that folks who make that argument actually don't care about raising the minimum level but about minimizing the range. For example, they think that being poor in the US is bad because of the rich, but look at what the poor in the US have.

anamax 17y ago

> We could spend (and I just may) hours writing about liberalism but it comes down to freedom to do as you will provided it does not impinge upon the right of others to do the same. Nice thought, but do you object to me owning "naughty" synthetic images? How about a gun? Can I refuse to associate with "those" people? How about hire them, lend them money, or rent my property to them? Can I allow smoking (tobacco) at my biz? Do you care which drugs I use in my own home?

johnnybgoode 17y ago

Unfortunately, this is kind of vague. I could easily spin this to refer to either actual liberalism (support for individual liberty) or social democracy (Progressivism). Which one do you mean?