Classical Liberalism

Classical Liberalism is an economically right, moderately libertarian, and culturally varied ideology.

He was conceived some time in the early 18th century as a child of the Enlightenment. He used to believe that people had an inherent right to their "Life, Liberty and Property" though he later amended that to "Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness".

Classical Liberalism hatched the idea, partly inspired by the French Physiocrats and their concept of laissez-faire, that individual freedom and a free market would result in a balanced economical equilibrium - as long as monopolies were not allowed to develop and destroy competitiveness. He viewed free trade as a path to universal peace and prosperity. He also often strongly opposed landed aristocracy, struggling against Monarchism and  Reactionary tendencies.

ClassLib is considered the original inspiration for most of the Lib-Right ideologies, including Capitalism, even though the modern concept of capitalism isn't necessarily entirely free market and free trade focused compared with the original Classical Liberalism; since monopoly and market power isn't vigorously kept in check, the state provides benefits to multiple specific corporations, and  Protectionism sometimes sneaks in when it's in the interest of powerful political and economical actors - revealing the connection to ClassLib's old enemy  Mercantilism.

Some time in the early 20th century ClassLib became the father of Liberalism, who managed to then make the Liberal Dynasty into what it is today; with his other offspring,  Libertarianism and  National Liberalism taking on more fringe positions.

Origins
Historically the philosophy of classical liberalism has a set of factors which have contributed to its creation and development; the most prominent of these factors include the individualistic attitudes and beliefs of especially the protestant Christian faith, opposition to  authoritarian social contract theories which put the state or law as the source of ethics as opposed to the other way around, as well as the rise of international trade and  industrialisation.

The foundation of classical liberal philosophy is generally attributed to the English philosopher John Locke and his "Two Treatises of Government" (1689) - while the arguably equally important and intrinsically linked classical economy is based on Adam Smith's "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (1776).

Throughout the history of liberal thought, there's been competing branches, ranging from what could be called "traditionalism" to "radicalism". Thinkers such as John Locke and David Hume may be considered relatively traditionalist, while thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Paine were much more radical in their concepts of liberty. Even Adam Smith may be considered relatively radical in his approach to certain things such as aristocracy and monopoly power, perceiving that markets could fail if natural monopolies were allowed to form.

Development and decline
The United States Constitution was firmly cemented in a liberal philosophy, and the later 19th century success of liberal policies, free trade, etc. in Western Europe and the United States contributed to a massive growth in productivity and exchange.

Later thinkers such as Jeremy Bentham and J.S. Mill would introduce a utilitarian liberal approach which could be considered a part of a more left-wing branch, at least relatively, being also concerned with inequality resulting from the failures of markets in certain situations. This would eventually give rise to Social Liberalism.

Towards the 20th century, there was still a marked division within the liberal ideology, and political radicals such as David Lloyd George in the UK were at odds with more traditionalist liberals as he passed the People's Budget which provided hitherto unprecedented welfare and sought to impose taxes on the wealthy, especially the landed aristocracy.

In the UK, the liberals would eventually be marginalised by the increasingly dominant dichotomy between Socialism and  Capitalism, with the Conservative Party taking on the mantle of  Paternalistic Capitalism and the newly formed Labour Party wanting to drive social reforms even further than the Liberal Party.

In the US, during the campaign for the presidency in the 1930s, previous to the election Democrats such as Grover Cleveland were Classical Liberals, thus the party was sometimes associated to (Classical) Liberalism and thus they were called Liberals, Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, despite representing a huge shift from this ideology, kept on identifying along with his followers as a "Liberal". That's why in The US, Liberals are the Democrats while in other parts of the world, Liberalism kept its a meaning closer to the original one of Classical Liberalism (Though in Europe especially, political parties espousing the term "Liberal" are oftentimes mostly a mixed bag of  Neoliberal,  Neoconservative,  Liberal-Conservative and  Social Liberalism). Those who, in the US, used to identify as Liberals in the broader sense had to start calling themselves Classical Liberals, or Liberals in the Classical tradition, and later in the 40s they started using the term "Libertarianism" to refer to themselves, stealing the term from the first users, Libertarian Socialists, to be differentiated from the Democratic party adherents; and with the passing of time and the radicalization of ideas, the term  Libertarianism changed its meaning from a synonym of Classical Liberalism to a more modern version of it, and usually more radical, but sometimes the terms are still used interchangeably, such as Milton Friedman who described himself sometimes as a Classical Liberal and sometimes as a Libertarian.

Some modern Libertarian anti-statists have started to (re)appropriate the term in order to make their vision of a completely deregulated society more legitimate, but it bears little resemblance with the views of the original founders of Liberalism who were very far from being Anarcho-Capitalists although some Anarcho-Capitalists argue that during the 20th century there was an "Anarcho-Capitalist wing" within the Classical Liberal movement, referring to Classical Liberals such as Gustave de Molinari, Herbert Spencer and Auberon Herbert, thus calling themselves Classical Liberals or Radical Classical Liberals wouldn't be as far from the original meaning as it might seem a priori.

Personality

 * Sleepy & old
 * Slight Scottish accent

How to Draw
Classlib_flag.svg You're finished
 * 1) Draw a ball with Eyes
 * 2) Draw a tricolour of Dark Blue, Gold and White.
 * 3) (Optional) draw a renaissance wig.

Origin: Flag of Classical Liberalism : vexillology

Friends

 * [[File: Enlightnenment.png]] Enlightenment - Thanks for helping me shape my worldview, parent!
 * [[File: Lib.png]] Liberalism - I remember when you were a baby. You won't be as influential as me but I hope that someday you'll prove me wrong.
 * [[File: Cap.png]] Capitalism - Quite successful. Focus on being innovative and efficient rather than destructive and we're all good.
 * [[File: Libertarian.png]] Libertarianism - My quite extreme child. Taking some of my ideas a bit far, eh?
 * [[File:Liberaltarianism.png]] Liberaltarianism - oh boy... Well you do combine the best aspects of Modern Liberalism and Libertarianism but you're kind of *ahem* inbred.
 * [[File: Georgist.png]] Georgism - Ah yes, my forgotten nephew! Ground-rents, and the ordinary rents from land, are probably the best sources of tax revenue, indeed.
 * [[File:Conlib.png]] Conservative Liberalism - My conservative leaning child!
 * [[File:Paleolib.png]] Paleolibertarianism - You and ConLib will get along just fine, I'm sure of it.
 * [[File:Soclib.png]] Social Liberalism - My progressive and welfare-loving grandchild.
 * [[File: Liberalconservative.png]] Liberal Conservatism - My moderate conservative grandchild, who usually thinks that he's [[File:Conlib.png]] ConLib but instead he's more statist and centrist.

Frenemies

 * [[File: Jack.png]] Jacobinism - You may be my oldest rival, but I still remember when we declared the First Republic together.
 * [[File: Soc.png]] Socialism - I remember my rivalry with you, good times.
 * [[File:Conserv.png]] Conservatism [[File:Con-t.png]] - You too... at least you're better than [[File: React.png]] Reactionarism.
 * [[File:Libsoc.png]] Libertarian Socialism - I like your style, but not sure about the whole socialism thing.
 * [[File:Neoliberal-icon.png]] Neoliberalism - I wish you weren't so regulatory like your [[File:Lib.png]] father. Also, what's with all these invasions with your Neoconservative friends?
 * [[File:Marketsoc.png]] Market Socialism - My son, how exactly do you expect this to work? At least you're rational enough to understand why we need a free market.
 * [[File: Nalib.png]] National Liberalism - Son, I'd prefer if your view on race wasn't so... racy.

Enemies

 * [[File: Monarch.png]] Monarchism - 1776, asshole!
 * [[File: Merc.png]] Mercantilism - We need Free Trade!
 * [[File:Socdem.png]] Social Democracy - Damn you, FDR!
 * [[File: ML.png]] Marxism–Leninism - Yeah... no.
 * [[File: React.png]] Reactionarism - Why on Earth would you reject Enlightenment!?
 * [[File:Fash.png]] Fascism - Despot who opposes free trade and liberty. Basically opposite of everything we stand for. Why do leftists think we're the same again?

Literature

 * Two Treatises of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke


 * The Spirit of the Laws by Baron de Montesquieu


 * The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
 * A Treatise on Political Economy by Destutt de Tracy (and translated by [[File:Jeffersondem2.png]]Thomas Jefferson)
 * On liberty by [[File:Soclib.png]]John Stuart Mill
 * Social Statics; or the Conditions Essential to Human Happiness and Principles of Ethics: Anthology by Herbert Spencer
 * A Plea for Liberty: An Argument against Socialism and Socialistic Legislation by multiple writers
 * Liberalism: In the Classical Tradition by [[File:Austrobert.png]] Ludwig Von Mises
 * The Constitution of Liberty by [[File:Hayek.png]] Friedrich August von Hayek
 * Two Concepts of Liberty by Isaiah Berlin
 * The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy by Jacob Leib Talmon

Wikipedia

 * Classical liberalism
 * Classical economics
 * Manchester Liberalism
 * French Liberal School
 * Liberism
 * Labor theory of property
 * John Locke
 * Adam Smith
 * Lockean proviso
 * Private property
 * Harm principle

Videos

 * A Guide to Classical Liberalism and Classical Liberalism, Part 2: The Rise and Fall (and Rise and Fall) by The Academic Agent
 * What is Classical Liberalism? and The History of Classical Liberalism by Learn Liberty
 * Liberalism: where did it come from and are its days numbered? by The Economist

Online Communities

 * r/Classical_Liberals
 * r/Liberalist