What is Liberalism?

There are three kinds of Liberalism, which causes confusion in applying their definitions. Each describes a different economic system.

Classical Liberalism was one of the key objectives of the Enlightenment (1650-1800). It defined a world were individuals had the freedom to make their own way in the world to achieve success. They could either sell themselves to a corporation and be paid or start their own business. Government would be designed to not interfere with the individual and would protect his rights.

During the New Deal years of the 1930s, the Democratic Party changed the definition of Liberalism to describe the Welfare State, in which big government would create social programs to alleviate the plight of the disadvantaged. This use of or the word has been labelled Modern (or American) Liberalism to avoid confusion with the original term.

In the 1970s, Neoliberalism came into being as an political ideology. Neoliberals sought to fight back against the failed welfare state by implementing a variation of Classical Liberalism. Neoliberals believe that the purpose of government should be to support the Capitalist system rather than create social programs. All the activities in a society should be designed to support a stable market. Neoliberals see Globalism as a goal because it promotes world Capitalism and prevents Nationalism from interfering with markets.