Social Liberalism

Social Liberalism (SocLib) also called Left-Liberalism (LeftLib), Modern Liberalism (ModLib), Welfare Liberalism (WelLib) and New Liberalism (NewLib) is an economically center to center-left, civically liberal, culturally progressive political ideology which combines elements of  liberal democracy and  economic interventionism in the name of "ensuring economic justice as well as civil liberty". Social Liberals view the common good as harmonious with individual freedom. Much of Social Liberalism's success is because its policies have gained broad support across the political spectrum because of its reform-minded policies that address societal problems without overhauling the  capitalist economic system. As economic circumstances became direr in places, many were more willing to accept social liberalism since it seemed to be less radical and evil than other forms of a left-wing government. Because of this, Social liberalism has been characterized by cooperation between businesses,  government and  labor unions. Many governments throughout the modern world have successfully adopted social liberal policies, and is now the dominant form of liberalism in North America, where it's often referred to as simply 'liberalism'.

History
Heavily inspired by his father Radicalism,  SocLib began to take his first steps in the late 19th century as  welfare states around the world started to grow. But it didn't become a more fully developed ideology until the post-war period when numerous Western democracies throughout the world began to implement social liberal policies in the aftermath of World War II.

[[File:Cball-UK.png]] United Kingdom
Social Liberalism started in the United Kingdom at the end of the 19th century as a trend within the Liberal Party that moved away from  laissez-faire economics, accepting certain market regulations, and moved more towards a social welfare system and from the more traditional  classical liberal deontological view of morality to a more utilitarian view of morality based on the philosophy of Jeremy Bentham.

The most influential figure behind the move toward this kind of liberalism is the English philosopher John Stuart Mill, who believed in certainly free markets along with welfare systems to assure equal opportunities.

The New Liberals
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, a group called the New Liberals began to argue against the laissez-faire economic system of classical liberalism and argued in favor of  state interventionism in the economy as a way to ensure individual liberty would be secured under favorable social and economic circumstances.

The Liberal Party, one of the two major political parties in the UK during the 19th and early 20th century, established the foundations of the welfare state in the United Kingdom before World War I. These liberal welfare reforms included progressive taxation, pensions for poor elderly people, and the National Insurance Act of 1911 which established health, sickness and unemployment insurance. At this time, big business owners, who regularly opposed these reforms, started to leave the  Liberal Party to join the  Conservative Party. The welfare state in the United Kingdom became more robust after World War II, mainly due to the efforts of the Labour Party, and was heavily inspired by the economics of  John Maynard Keynes and the welfare system of  William Beveridge.

In the modern-day United Kingdom, Social Liberalism is most prominently represented by the Liberal Democrats and has had a strong influence on the  Labour Party.

[[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Germany
In the 1860s, some left-liberal politicians in  Germany started to establish trade unions to improve working conditions through cooperation between employees and employers. By the 1870s, some liberal economists were promoting social reform that rejected classical economics and supported an alternative to classical liberalism and  Socialist Revolution.

In the 19th century, the German left-liberal movement began to fragment into new parties including the  German Progress Party. The main objectives of these parties were free speech, freedom of assembly, representative government, and protection of private property but they were opposed to the creation of a welfare state which they called  state socialism.

The Protestant pastor Friedrich Naumann founded the National-Social Association Party in 1896 which proposed a mix of nationalism,  christian socialism, and social liberalism. He attempted to use this party to draw workers away from Marxism but it only lasted for roughly seven years and was unable to win any seats.

In the Weimar Republic, the German Democratic Party was founded in 1918. It had both a social-liberal and classical liberal wing. It heavily favored republicanism over  monarchism. Its ideas consisted of a socially balanced economy with solidarity, duty and rights among all workers, but it struggled due to the economic sanctions of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1932, the economist Alexander Rüstow called his version of social liberalism  Neoliberalism, although that term now carries a meaning different from the one proposed by Rüstow. His form of liberalism provided an alternative to socialism and to the  classical liberal economics developed in the German Empire. In 1938, Alexander Rüstow attended the Colloque Walter Lippmann conference. There, Rüstow advocated a strong state to enforce free markets and state intervention to correct market failures.

Following World War II, Rüstow's neoliberalism, now usually called ordoliberalism or the   social market economy, was adopted by the West German government under  Ludwig Erhard, who was the Minister of Economics and later became Chancellor. Price controls were lifted and free markets were introduced. While these policies are credited with Germany's post-war economic recovery, the welfare state—which had been established under Bismarck—became increasingly costly.

After 1945, the Free Democrats included most of the social liberals while others joined the  Christian Democratic Union of Germany. Until the 1960s, post-war ordoliberalism was the model for Germany. It had the theoretical influence of social liberalism based on duty and rights. As the Free Democrats discarded social liberal ideas in favor of more  conservative and  economical liberal approach in 1982, some members left the party and formed the social liberal  Liberal Democrats.

[[File:Cball-US.png]] United States
American political discourse resisted this social turn in European liberalism. In the United States, the term social liberalism was used to differentiate it from classical liberalism or  laissez-faire, which dominated political and economic thought for several years until the term branched off from it around the Great Depression and the  New Deal.

In the 1870s and the 1880s, the American economists Richard Ely, John Bates Clark and Henry Carter Adams—influenced both by socialism and the Evangelical Protestant movement—castigated the conditions caused by industrial factories and expressed sympathy towards labor unions. However, none developed a systematic political philosophy and they later abandoned their flirtations with socialist thinking. In 1883, Lester Frank Ward published the two-volume Dynamic Sociology and formalized the basic tenets of social liberalism while at the same time attacking the laissez-faire policies advocated by  Herbert Spencer and  William Graham Sumner. The historian Henry Steele Commager ranked Ward alongside William James, John Dewey and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and called him the father of the modern  welfare state. Writing from 1884 until the 1930s, John Dewey—an educator influenced by Hobhouse, Green and Ward—advocated  socialist methods to achieve  liberal goals. Some social liberal ideas were later incorporated into the New Deal, which developed as a response to the Great Depression when  Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office.

While the economic policies of the New Deal appeared  Keynesian, there was no revision of  liberal theory in favor of greater state initiative. Even though the United States lacked an effective socialist movement,  New Deal policies often appeared radical and were attacked by the  right. The separate development of modern liberalism in the United States is often attributed to  American exceptionalism, which kept mainstream American ideology within a narrow range.



John Rawls' principal work A Theory of Justice (1971) can be considered a flagship exposition of social liberal thinking, advocating the combination of individual freedom and a  fairer distribution of resources. According to Rawls, every individual should be allowed to choose and pursue his or her own conception of what is desirable in life, while a socially just distribution of goods must be maintained. Rawls argued that differences in material wealth are tolerable if general economic growth and wealth also benefit the poorest. A Theory of Justice countered utilitarian thinking in the tradition of Jeremy Bentham, instead of following the  Kantian concept of a social contract, picturing society as a mutual agreement between rational citizens, producing rights and duties as well as establishing and defining roles and tasks of the state. Rawls put the equal liberty principle in the first place, providing every person with equal access to the same set of fundamental liberties, followed by the fair equality of opportunity and difference principle, thus allowing social and economic inequalities under the precondition that privileged positions are accessible to everyone, that everyone has equal opportunities and that even the least advantaged members of society benefit from this framework. This was later restated in the equation of Justice as Fairness. Rawls proposed these principles not just to adherents of liberalism, but as a basis for all  democratic politics, regardless of ideology. The work advanced social liberal ideas immensely within the 1970s political and philosophic academia. Rawls may therefore be seen as a "patron saint" of social liberalism.



In recent US history, both former democratic President Barrack Obama and current democratic President  Joe Biden have incorporated social liberal principles and policies throughout their presidencies.

[[File:Cball-France.png]] France
Historically, Radicalism emerged in an early form with the  French Revolution and the similar movements it inspired in other countries. It grew prominent during the 1830s in the United Kingdom with the  Chartists and  Belgium with the Revolution of 1830, then across  Europe in the 1840s–1850s during the Revolutions of 1848. In contrast to the social conservatism of existing  liberal politics,  radicalism sought political support for a radical reform of the electoral system to widen suffrage. It was also associated with republicanism,  liberalism,  left-wing politics,  modernism,   secular humanism,  anti-imperialism,  civic nationalism, abolition of  titles,  rationalism and the resistance to a  single established state religion,  redistribution of property and  freedom of the press.



In 19th-century France, radicalism had emerged as a minor political force by the 1840s as the extreme left of the day, in contrast to the socially-conservative liberalism of the  Moderate Republicans and  Orléanist monarchists and the anti-parliamentarianism of the  Legitimist monarchists and  Bonapartists. By the 1890s, the French radicals were not organized under a single nationwide structure, but rather they had become a significant political force in parliament. In 1901, they consolidated their efforts by forming the country's first major extra-parliamentary political party, the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party which became the most important party of government during the second half (1899 to 1940) of the French Third Republic. The success of the French Radicals encouraged radicals elsewhere to organize themselves into formal parties in a range of other countries in the late 19th and early 20th century, with radicals holding significant political office in Bulgaria,  Denmark,  Germany,  Greece,  Ireland,  Italy,  the Netherlands,  Portugal,  Romania,  Russia,  Spain,  Sweden and  Switzerland. During the interwar period, European radical parties organized the Radical Entente, their own political international.

As social democracy emerged as a distinct political force in its own right, the differences that once existed between historical left-wing radicalism and  Liberal Conservatism diminished. Between 1940 and 1973, radicalism became defunct in most of its European heartlands, with its role and philosophy taken on by social-democratic and  Conservative Liberal parties.

[[File:Ottoman.png]] Turkey
Kemalist Economic Model was designed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. His economic model can be summarized as a "solidarist liberal economy". Atatürk put the principle of "Statism" in his Six Arrows and explained this principle as follows:

"State can't take the place of individuals, but, it must take into consideration the individuals to make them improve and develop themselves. Etatism includes the work that individuals won't do because they can't make  profit or the work which are necessary for  national interests. Just as it is the duty of the  state to protect the  freedom and independence of the country and to regulate internal affairs, the state must take care of the education and health of its citizens. The state must take care of the roads, railways, telegraphs, telephones, animals of the country, all kinds of vehicles and the general wealth of the nation to protect the peace and security of the country. During the administration and protection of the country, the things we just counted are more important than cannons, rifles and all kinds of weapons. (...)  Private interests are generally the opposite of the  general interests. Also, private interests are based on rivalries. But, you can't create a stable economy only with this. People who think like that are delusional and they will be a failure. (...) And, work of an individual must stay as the main basis of economic growth. Not preventing an individual's work and not obstructing the individual's freedom and enterprise with the state's own activities is the main basis of the principle of democracy."



Moreover, Atatürk said this in his opening speech on November 1, 1937: "Unless there is an absolute necessity, the markets can't be intervened; also, no markets can be completely free."

Also, he said that the principle of statism is a special economic system for Turkey, and said that it's different from socialism,  communism and  collectivism.

As it's understood from his words, Atatürk's statism is a social liberal economic system.

LibKemSmall.png Liberal Kemalism Lib.png
The Free Republican Party (sometimes referred to as the Liberal Republican Party; in Turkish: Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası) was a political party founded by Fethi Okyar upon President Kemal Atatürk's request in the early years of the Turkish Republic.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk requested that Okyar create it as an opposition party to confront the ruling Republican People's Party to establish the tradition of multi-party democracy in Turkey.

In addition, this party defended the Liberal Kemalist thought in line with Atatürk's wishes.

However, the party was quickly embraced by the conservatives who saw it as an opportunity to reverse the reforms of Atatürk, particularly regarding secularism and was personally dissolved in November 1930 by Okyar who himself was an ardent supporter of the reforms.

[[File:Consequentialism.png]] Consequentialism
Consequentialism, as its name suggests, is simply the view that normative properties depend only on consequences. This historically important and still popular theory embodies the basic intuition that what is best or right is whatever makes the world best in the future, because we cannot change the past, so worrying about the past is no more useful than crying over spilt milk. This general approach can be applied at different levels to different normative properties of different kinds of things, but the most prominent example is probably consequentialism about the moral rightness of acts, which holds that whether an act is morally right depends only on the consequences of that act or of something related to that act, such as the motive behind the act or a general rule requiring acts of the same kind.

[[File:Utility.png]] Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism and altruism, utilitarianism considers the interests of all humans equally. Proponents of utilitarianism have disagreed on several points, such as whether actions should be chosen based on their likely results (act utilitarianism), or whether agents should conform to rules that maximize utility (rule utilitarianism). There is also disagreement as to whether total (total utilitarianism), average (average utilitarianism) or minimum utility should be maximized.



[[File:Mill.png]] Rule Utilitarianism
Rule utilitarianism is a form of utilitarianism, created by John Stuart Mill, that says an action is right as it conforms to a rule that leads to the greatest good, or that "the rightness or wrongness of a particular action is a function of the correctness of the rule of which it is an instance". Philosophers Richard Brandt and Brad Hooker are major proponents of such an approach.

For rule utilitarians, the correctness of a rule is determined by the amount of good it brings about when followed. In contrast, act utilitarians judge an act in terms of the consequences of that act alone (such as stopping at a red light), rather than judging whether it faithfully adhered to the rule of which it was an instance (such as, "always stop at red lights"). Rule utilitarians argue that following rules that tend to lead to the greatest good will have better consequences overall than allowing exceptions to be made in individual instances, even if better consequences can be demonstrated in those instances.

Economics
SocLib believes in modestly regulated capitalism with a large social safety net in a similar vein to Social Democracy. In the Vein of Keynesianism, Social Liberals generally argue that aggregate demand is volatile and unstable and that, consequently, a market economy often experiences inefficient macroeconomic outcomes – a recession, when demand is low, and inflation, when demand is high. Further, they argue that these economic fluctuations can be mitigated by economic policy responses coordinated between the government and central bank. In particular, fiscal policy actions (taken by the government) and monetary policy actions (taken by the central bank), can help stabilize economic output, inflation, and unemployment over the business cycle. Social liberals advocate a market economy – predominantly private sector, but with an active role for government intervention during recessions and depressions. These ideas were largely developed during and after the Great Depression.

[[File:Keynes.png]] Keynesianism
Social liberalism had an extensive influence on Keynesian economics, and the reverse is also true. Keynesian economics is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation. Keynesian economics was developed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes during the 1930s in an attempt to understand the Great Depression. Keynesian economics is considered a "demand-side" theory that focuses on changes in the economy over the short run. Keynes’s theory was the first to sharply separate the study of economic behavior and markets based on individual incentives from the study of broad national economic aggregate variables and constructs.

Based on his theory, Keynes advocated for increased government expenditures and lower taxes to stimulate demand and pull the global economy out of the depression. Subsequently, Keynesian economics was used to refer to the concept that optimal economic performance could be achieved—and economic slumps prevented—by influencing aggregate demand through activist stabilization and economic intervention policies by the government.



Keynesian economics represented a new way of looking at spending, output, and inflation. Previously, what Keynes dubbed classical economic thinking held that cyclical swings in employment and economic output create profit opportunities that individuals and entrepreneurs would have an incentive to pursue, and in so doing correct the imbalances in the economy. According to Keynes’s construction of this so-called classical theory, if aggregate demand in the economy fell, the resulting weakness in production and jobs would precipitate a decline in prices and wages. A lower level of inflation and wages would induce employers to make capital investments and employ more people, stimulating employment and restoring economic growth. Keynes believed that the depth and persistence of the Great Depression, however, severely tested this hypothesis.

In his book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money and other works, Keynes argued against his construction of classical theory, that during recessions business pessimism and certain characteristics of market economies would exacerbate economic weakness and cause aggregate demand to plunge further.

For example, Keynesian economics disputes the notion held by some economists that lower wages can restore full employment because labor demand curves slope downward like any other normal demand curve. Instead, he argued that employers will not add employees to produce goods that cannot be sold because demand for their products is weak. Similarly, poor business conditions may cause companies to reduce capital investment, rather than take advantage of lower prices to invest in new plants and equipment. This would also have the effect of reducing overall expenditures and employment.

[[File:Constlib2.png]] A Theory of Justice
A Theory of Justice is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls, in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distributive justice (the socially just distribution of goods in a society). The theory uses an updated form of Kantian philosophy and a variant form of conventional social contract theory. Rawls's theory of justice is fully a political theory of justice as opposed to other forms of justice discussed in other disciplines and contexts. However, the theory of justice itself applies to other moral systems, ironically including utilitarianism.

In A Theory of Justice, Rawls argues for a principled reconciliation of liberty and equality that is meant to apply to the basic structure of a well-ordered society. Central to this effort is an account of the circumstances of justice, inspired by David Hume, and a fair choice situation for parties facing such circumstances, similar to some of Immanuel Kant's views. Principles of justice are sought to guide the conduct of the parties. These parties are recognized to face moderate scarcity, and they are neither naturally altruistic nor purely egoistic. They have ends which they seek to advance but prefer to advance them through cooperation with others on mutually acceptable terms. Rawls offers a model of a fair choice situation (the original position with its veil of ignorance) within which parties would hypothetically choose mutually acceptable principles of justice. Under such constraints, Rawls believes that parties would find his favoured principles of justice to be especially attractive, winning out over varied alternatives, including utilitarian and 'right wing' libertarian accounts.



Although A Theory of Justice itself was written to justify Rawl’s particular views, it is viewed as an articulation of social liberal beliefs in general. It can be, and often is, considered a flagship exposition of social liberal thinking, advocating the combination of individual freedom and a fairer distribution of resources.

[[File: Progress.png]] [[File:Prog-u.png]] Progressivism [[File:Prgess.png]]
Social Liberalism is in support of social reform based on the idea of progress in which advancements in science, technology, economic development and social organization are vital to the improvement of the human condition. Progressivism became highly significant during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, out of the belief that Europe was demonstrating that societies could progress in civility from uncivilized conditions to civilization by strengthening the basis of empirical knowledge as the foundation of society. Figures of the Enlightenment believed that progress had universal application to all societies and that these ideas would spread across the world from Europe.

[[File:Civlibert.png]] Civil Libertarianism
Most Social Liberals are strong advocates of Civil Libertarianism. Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports civil liberties, or which emphasizes the supremacy of individual rights and personal freedoms over and against any kind of authority (such as a state, a corporation, social norms imposed through peer pressure and so on).

One key cause of civil libertarianism is upholding free speech. Specifically, civil libertarians oppose bans on hate speech and obscenity. Although they may or may not personally condone behaviors associated with these issues, civil libertarians hold that the advantages of unfettered public discourse outweigh all disadvantages.

Other civil libertarian positions include support for at least partial legalization of illicit substances (marijuana and other soft drugs), prostitution, abortion, privacy, assisted dying or euthanasia, the right to bear arms, youth rights, topfree equality, a strong demarcation between religion and politics, and support for same-sex marriage.

With the advent of personal computers, the Internet, email, cell phones and other information technology advances a subset of civil libertarianism has arisen that focuses on protecting individuals' digital rights and privacy.

[[File:Fem.png]] Feminism
Social Liberals have contributed monumentally to feminist theory. Liberal Feminism largely grew out of and was often associated with social liberalism; the modern liberal feminist tradition notably includes both social liberal and social democratic streams, and many often diverging schools of thought such as equality feminism, social feminism, equity feminism, and difference feminism Additionally, the most seminal work of early feminism, The Subjection of Women, written by  John Stuart Mill, would go on to have a crucial influence of feminist politics.

[[File:Laicism.png]] Secularism
In political terms, secularism is a movement towards the separation of religion and government (often termed the separation of church and state). This can refer to reducing ties between a government and a state religion, replacing laws based on scripture (such as Halakha, and Sharia) with civil laws, and eliminating discrimination based on religion. This is said to add to democracy by protecting the rights of religious minorities.

Within this view, social liberals and liberalism, in general, has a long tradition of secularism. Thomas Paine, an American revolutionary and founding father famously said:

"I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel."



It can be seen by many of the organizations (NGOs) for secularism that they prefer to define secularism as the common ground for all life stance groups, religious or atheistic, to thrive in a society that honors freedom of speech and conscience. An example of that is the National Secular Society in the UK. This is a common understanding of what secularism stands for among many of its activists throughout the world. However, many scholars of Christianity and conservative politicians seem to interpret secularism more often than not, as an antithesis of religion and an attempt to push religion out of society and replace it with atheism or a void of values, nihilism. This dual aspect (as noted above in "Secular ethics") has created difficulties in political discourse on the subject. It seems that most political theorists in philosophy following the landmark work of John Rawl's Theory of Justice in 1971 and its following book, Political Liberalism (1993), would rather use the conjoined concept of overlapping consensus rather than secularism. In the latter, Rawls holds the idea of an overlapping consensus as one of the three main ideas of political liberalism. He argues that the term secularism cannot apply;

But what is a secular argument? Some think of any argument that is reflective and critical, publicly intelligible and rational, as a secular argument; [...], Nevertheless, a central feature of political liberalism is that it views all such arguments the same way it views religious ones, and therefore these secular philosophical doctrines do not provide public reasons. Secular concepts and reasoning of this kind belong to first philosophy and moral doctrine and fall outside the domain of the political.

Still, Rawl's theory is akin to Holyoake's vision of a tolerant democracy that treats all life stance groups alike. Rawl's idea is that it is in everybody's interest to endorse "a reasonable constitutional democracy" with "principles of toleration". His work has been highly influential on scholars in political philosophy and his term, overlapping consensus, seems to have for many parts replaced secularism among them. In textbooks on modern political philosophy, like Colin Farelly's, An Introduction to Contemporary Political Theory, and Will Kymlicka's, Contemporary Political Philosophy, the term secularism is not even indexed and in the former, it can be seen only in one footnote. However, there is no shortage of discussion and coverage of the topic it involves. It is just called overlapping consensus, pluralism, multiculturalism or expressed in some other way. In The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, there is one chapter called "Political secularism", by Rajeev Bhargava. It covers secularism in a global context, and starts with this sentence: "Secularism is a beleaguered doctrine."

Separation of church and state is but one possible strategy to be deployed by secular governments. From the democratic to the authoritarian, such governments share a concern to limit the religious side in the relationship. Each state may find its unique policy prescriptions. These may include separation, careful monitoring and regulation of organized religion such as in France, Turkey, and others.

A major impact on the idea of state religious liberty came from the writings of John Locke who, in his A Letter Concerning Toleration, argued in favor of religious toleration. He argued that government must treat all citizens and all religions equally and that it can restrict actions, but not the religious intent behind them.

[[File:Envi.png]] Environmentalism
Social liberals have been central to the environmentalist movement in recent years, so much so that Green Liberalism has become a political philosophy in of itself. The term "green liberalism" was coined by political philosopher Marcel Wissenburg. In his 1998 book Green Liberalism: The Free and The Green Society. He argues that liberalism must reject the idea of absolute property rights and accept restraints that limit the freedom to abuse nature and natural resources. However, he rejects the control of population growth and any control over the distribution of resources as incompatible with individual liberty, instead favoring supply-side control: more efficient production and curbs on overproduction and overexploitation. This view tends to dominate the movement, although critics say it puts individual liberties above sustainability.



On economic issues, green liberals take a position somewhere between classical liberalism (on the center/center-right) and social liberalism (on the center/center-left): green liberals may favor slightly less government involvement than social liberals, but far more than classical liberals. Some green liberals practice free-market environmentalism and thus share some values with rightist classical liberalism or libertarianism. This is one of a few reasons why a blue-green alliance is possible in politics.

The historian Conrad Russell, a British Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, dedicated a chapter of his book The Intelligent Person's Guide to Liberalism to the subject of green liberalism. In a literary sense, the term "Green Liberalism" was coined, however, by political philosopher Marcel Wissenburg in his 1998 book Green Liberalism: The Free and The Green Society, among others.

[[File:Scientocracy Small.png]] Technological Progress
Social liberals tend to emphasize technological progress, more so than other liberals. Social liberals tend to believe that technological, and material progress brings about more prosperity than cultural or spiritual progress.

And much like how Green Liberalism outgrew social liberalism into a separate ideology, the same can be said for  Technoliberalism.

Technoliberalism is a political philosophy founded on ideas of liberty, individuality, responsibility, decentralization, and self-awareness. It also highlights the idea that technology should be available to everyone with minimal controls. Its core beliefs fit under five main interests that include the Construction of the Government, Economics, Civil Liberties, Education and Science, and the Environment. Technoliberals support such ideas as the balance of powers in the government, decentralization, affordable education, the protection of our planet, Fine Arts, and the freedom of speech and communication technologies.

In his book titled Technoliberalism, Adam Fish describes technoliberalism as a belief that networked technologies ameliorate the contradictions of a society that cherishes both the free market of economic liberalism and the social welfare of social liberalism. In this manner, technoliberalism has some links to neo-liberalism, yet with some core differences; "While Adam Smith conceived of a market that was in a way a natural and ineradicable part of the landscape (based on the human propensity 'to truck, barter and exchange'), and neoliberal thought continues to see the market in this way, technoliberalism holds up the idea that such complex systems can be contrived in their entirety" At the centre of the philosophy of Technoliberalism as a belief and a movement is "an overriding faith in technology, a suspicion of conventional modernist (top-down) institutions and a conviction that the aggregate effects of individual engagement of technology will generate social goods" Technoliberalism is about the combining of decentralism, individualism, responsibility and self-awareness, nothing in excess, sustainability, and engineering style regulation and governance. Its core beliefs fit under five main interests; Construction of the Government, Education and Science, Economics, the Environment, and Civil Liberties. They include:


 * The protection of the individuals' freedom, whilst maintaining that of others.
 * Free markets with strongly enforced rules.
 * Fair taxation, especially of big companies.
 * The protection of our planet through strong regulation on damage to the environment.
 * The power of small and medium-sized businesses.
 * The freedom of speech and communication technologies.
 * The emphasis on technological advancements instead of the status quo.

Personality
Social Liberalism either acts like a stereotypical western urban/suburban middle-class millennial, or a worn-out, sleepy old  English man, similar to  Classical Liberalism. If he's the former he's very modern and loves to read analytic philosophers such as  Bertrand Russell,  Ludwig Wittgenstein,  Karl Popper, as well as some earlier philosophers like  John Stuart Mill. He's also a massive DGGer.

If he's the latter he'll still read those analytic philosophers, although he'll usually take a much more pessimistic and  pragmatic approach to politics. He'll also talk about "the glory days" like FDR's presidency and the  women's suffrage movement.

How to Draw
Soclib flag.svg The Social Liberal design is the Social Democratic Rose in the Liberal colours of Blue and Gold.
 * 1) Draw a ball,
 * 2) Fill it with a similar shade of blue as Liberalism (#005C94),
 * 3) Draw a rose in gold (#EEE8AA),
 * 4) Draw the eyes, and you're done!

Friends

 * [[File:Monkeyzz-Enlightenment.png]] Enlightenment [[File:Enlightnenment.png]] - The greatest movement ever. Without you, I would be nothing.
 * [[File:Radlib.png]] Radicalism - My father, and greatest influence.
 * [[File:Clib.png]] Classical Liberalism - My grandfather, and second greatest influence.
 * [[File: Civnat.png]] Civic Nationalism - The only acceptable nationalist.
 * [[File:Lib.png]] Liberalism - Liberal Gang! Thanks for creating such a great system!
 * [[File:Keynes.png]] Keynesianism - He has some very good ideas but I don't like his opinion on military matters.
 * [[File:NuKeynesPix.png]] Neo-Keynesianism - Not very different from his father, although his spending habits are weird.
 * [[File:Soccap.png]] Social Capitalism - Believes in having a moderate welfare state but wants freer markets.
 * [[File:Socdem.png]] Social Democracy - A slightly more regulatory version of myself. We often form coalitions.
 * [[File:Socliber.png]] Social Libertarianism - My more extreme descendant, but his heart is definitely in the right place.
 * [[File:LibSocDemIcon.png]] Libertarian Social Democracy - An even more extreme version of me. You’re a bit misguided but you’re certainly an ally.
 * [[File:Orlib.png]] Ordo-Liberalism - We share the principle of moderately regulated markets with a welfare state.
 * [[File:Nordmodel.png]] Nordic Model - Same as Ordo-liberalism.
 * [[File:NatProg.png]] Bull Moose Progressivism - My cool older cousin. Hope you don't mind if I borrowed some of your notes for the New Deal cuz.
 * [[File:Progress.png]] Progressivism - Fellow liberal who fights for progress goes a bit too far sometimes but still good
 * [[File:Regulationism.png]] Regulationism - Taught me that sometimes markets need rules and regulations.
 * [[File:Neotech.png]] Technoliberalism - Fellow liberal, and a man of science. You have some interesting takes, not gonna lie.
 * [[File:Libfem.png]] Liberal Feminism - My best friend!
 * [[File: Glib.png]] Green Liberalism - My other best friend!
 * [[File:Civlibert.png]] Civil Libertarianism - A good friend who defends the rights of all people.
 * [[File:Reform.png]] Reformism - Change is good, murdering dissenters is bad.
 * [[File:MilkTeaAlliance.png]] Milk-Tea Alliance - We work together against [[File:Rienthong.png]] fascists, absolutists and [[File:Dengf.png]] commies.
 * [[File:3way.png]] Third Way [[File:Third Way - alt.png]] - My pro-Chicago economics buddy, we mostly get along, even if he is too eager to compromise with neolib sometimes.
 * [[File:Antijap.png]] Anti-Japaneseism - The time has come. Execute Order 9066.

Frenemies

 * [[File:Lpop.png]] Left-Wing Populism - Sometimes helpful for me, but he's still too radical.
 * [[File:Socauth.png]] Social Authoritarianism - Your economic ideas are ok, but you scare me.
 * [[File:Ecocap.png]] Eco-Capitalism - Look, in principle you have good intentions to stop big corporations to damage the environment, but trying to greenwash the companies by saying that they're using "green" technology without market regulations, is not the answer!
 * [[File:Laicism.png]] Laicism - Religious freedom is the bedrock of a liberal society, but I don't know, isn't freedom of speech important too?
 * [[File:Liberalsoc.png]] Liberal Socialism - You're kinda like me, and we share credit for a lot of important theorists, but I am the Social Democrat to your Socialism so maybe you can understand why I would want to distance myself from, ahem, such radicals.
 * [[File: Georgist.png]] Georgism - We used to get along great, but nowadays his ideas aren't very popular amongst voters.
 * [[File:Socgeo.png]] Social Georgism - A bit better than his dad, but still maybe a little too out there; although I have to admit, [[File:Nordmodel.png]] Denmark is pretty cool.
 * [[File:Neoliberal-icon.png]] Neoliberalism - I like SOME of your ideas, but austerity has been disastrous, also your economy is too deregulated.
 * [[File:Liberaltarianism.png]] Liberaltarianism - Better than the last guy, but still too libertarian.
 * [[File:Nalib.png]] National Liberalism - Heh, if it isn't this Mr. "I'm too cool for [[File:Altr.png]] Alt-Right" himself. Although, I'll admit that working with you isn't always so bad.
 * [[File:3princ.png]] Tridemism [[File:3princ-col.png]] - That health care system and land reform are nice, but you need to face up to what you did. Also, stop calling me Green Taliban!!!
 * [[File:Dsa.png]] Democratic Socialism - You have good cultural takes, but you're still way too far left.
 * [[File:Long.png]] Longism - If I borrow some of your "Sharing the Wealth" ideas, will you stop bugging me for not going far enough? And stop working with the mob!
 * [[File:Necon.png]] Neoconservatism - Some of my followers support interventionist foreign policy while others don't.
 * [[File: Cdem.png]] Christian Democracy - One of my main opponents in elections, although your economic views aren't bad.
 * [[File:Patcon.png]] Paternalistic Conservatism - Stop making conspiracy theories and lying about me, Tucker! I am not an Islamic Marxist! Wait why do you call my book about economics one of the best?
 * [[File:Whitesup.png]] White Nationalism - I worked with you a lot in the USA but you really need to stop being racist and a culturally far right. And Trudeau did blackface once.
 * [[File:Antifa.png]] Anti-Fascism - Look, in principle you're fine, but can you PLEASE stop making us look bad?
 * [[File:Progconf.png]] Progressive Conservatism - Uhhh...based?
 * [[File:Ford.png]] Fordism - As far as dystopian hellscapes go, you're not bad...
 * [[File:Kemal.png]] Kemalism - You did the right thing to destroy the outdated Ottoman Empire and abolish the Caliphate, but you are too statist and nationalistic for my taste. At least, You're much better than [[File:Ottoman.png]] [[File:Ittihad.png]] Them and the best leader Turkey ever had. It’s a shame that Erdogan is raveling your legacies and reversing your westernization and secularization policies.

Enemies

 * [[File:ML.png]] Marxism–Leninism - I'M A LIBERAL, ALRIGHT?! Anyways, you are somewhat racist and really authoritarian. Ignore the fact that I threw Japanese people into concentration camps and worked with segregationists in the past.
 * [[File:Nazi.png]] National Socialism - Didn't I kick your genocidal ass out of Europe?
 * [[File:Nazbol.png]] National Bolshevism - Combines the worse of the 2 above.
 * [[File:Euras.png]] Fourth Theory - Global poor hater.
 * [[File:Dengf.png]] Dengism - Nazbol with markets.
 * [[File:Showa-kanmuri.png]] Showa Statism - That's what you get for sneak attacking me!
 * [[File:Statlib.png]] State Liberalism - YOU'RE NOT A LIBERAL STOP CALLING YOURSELF ONE!
 * [[File:Fiscon.png]] Fiscal Conservatism - If you were more concerned about helping people than you were about the deficit, maybe I'd be able to actually do something for once.
 * [[File:Libertarian.png]] Libertarianism - Ok, [[File: Cap.png]] Capitalism’s a great system, but if it ever collapses due to companies doing what they want, we will have to come to their rescue by using some [[File:Regulationism.png]] regulation, Also stop calling me a socialist, I’m not [[File:Liberalsoc.png]] them!
 * [[File:Ancapf.png]] Anarcho-Capitalism - No way, you think that big nukes are fine because they've been owned by McNuke™.
 * [[File: Liberalconservative.png]] Liberal Conservatism [[File:Libconserv3.png]] - I'M NOT A [[File: Soc.png]] SOCIALIST! At least you're better than [[File:Conservative.png]] him though.
 * [[File:Marxfem.png]] Marxist Feminism - I was the original feminist. You're an embarrassment to our movement.
 * [[File:Conservative.png]] Conservatism - My main ideological opponent for centuries, thankfully I'm beating you in America.
 * [[File:Consocf.png]] Conservative Socialism - Conservatism, socialism, sounds like hell.
 * [[File:Korwinism-Pikselart.png]] Korwinism - STOP BEING A SEXIST PRICK.
 * [[File:Esofash.png]] Esoteric Fascism - Stop schizoposting you psycho.
 * [[File:Trumpism.png]] Trumpism - Can’t you just accept the fact that you lost and get over it? Pretty please?
 * [[File:Ancom.png]] Anarcho-Communism - Your revolution is never coming and even if it did you'd lose.
 * [[File:Ottoman.png]] Neo-Ottomanism & [[File:Ittihad.png]] İttihadism - Yes, I recognized the Armenian Genocide. What about it?
 * [[File:Corp.png]] Corporatocracy - It doesn't matter if you're big, STOP BUYING SMALL COMPANIES AND KILLING THE COMPETITION.
 * [[File:Reactlib.png]] Reactionary Liberalism - You're the worst liberal that I have never seen, also STOP CALLING ME A LIBERPROGRE, LAJE AND MILEI.
 * [[File:Reactlib-icon.png]] Reactionary Libertarianism - [Comment removed by moderator]

Further Information
For overlapping political theory, see:

Literature

 * On Liberty, Principles of Political Economy and On Socialism by John Stuart Mill
 * The Liberal Revolution and Liberal consciousness and working class by Piero Gobetti
 * A Theory of Justice by John Rawls
 * Liberalism is the Best Cure for Poverty by Dirk Verhofstadt
 * The New Liberalism: Reconciling Liberty and Community by Avital Simhoni and Davis Weinstein
 * Towards a Socio-Liberal Theory of World Development by Arno Tausch and Fred Prager
 * Two Concepts of Liberty by Isaiah Berlin
 * Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights by Alan Dershowitz
 * The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman

Wikipedia

 * Social Liberalism
 * Liberal corporatism
 * New Deal

Videos

 * Social Democracy vs Social Liberalism Explained by Liberaven
 * Classical vs. Social Liberalism by Nick Carroll
 * IdeoLogs: Interview With a Liberal by IdeoLogs

Communities

 * r/centerleftpolitics
 * r/socialliberalism
 * IDRlabs

Gallery
Socjalliberalizm