What have liberals ever done for us?
Sure, they gave us liberty,
metropolitan intellectuals,
and soy lattes, but
where do they come from
and why has the liberal
elite become a term of abuse?
Liberalism is a world
view based on liberty
and equality of opportunity.
Liberals value free
trade, open competition,
and freedom of expression.
In recent years, populist
movements have attacked
the liberal cause.
They prefer keeping jobs
for their own people,
shunning immigration, and
favoring domestic production
over imported goods.
Protection will lead to great
prosperity and strength.
Populist movements have won referendums
and elections in Britain,
America, Poland, and Hungary,
while France and Canada are
holdouts for the liberal cause.
Our task is immense, my friends .
Populists think liberals
have become too elite,
removed from the concerns
of ordinary people,
and strayed too far from
their founding principles.
So what were they?
Back in the 17th century, elites
really did rule the world.
Kings and queens reigned by divine right.
The state dictated your religion
and owned your house and land.
But then along came two
English philosophers,
Thomas Hobbs ...
The law is the public conscience.
And John Locke.
The end of law is not
to abolish or restrain,
but to preserve and enlarge freedom.
Hobbs introduced the idea
that people give up
natural rights to freedom
in exchange for security and protection.
According to Locke, this
social contract was rooted
in the duty of all individuals
to respect the rights of others.
The liberals that came
after Hobbs and Locke
believed in equal opportunity for all.
Well, all white men.
They said people should be allowed
to keep the fruits of their labor
and have the freedom to
fulfill their dreams.
Instead of going to war to gain wealth,
countries should embrace
trade and treaties.
This new philosophy will
be put into practice
most diligently on the
other side of the Atlantic.
America was founded on the principles
of equality and individual liberty.
It became the world's
first liberal society.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal.
Soon after, the French overthrew
their monarchy and replaced it
with a liberal people's republic.
But it was the Industrial Revolution
that galvanized liberalism
as the world's dominant political theory.
A seismic shift towards self-made wealth
replaced the inherited
power of the aristocracy.
Liberalism has underpinned
western democracy ever since,
but it evolved during the 20th century.
Across the world, liberalism
has made more room
for government involvement
providing education,
welfare, and regulating the markets.
But in America, the
word has been hijacked.
Liberalism is now used as an insult
to describe left-wing progressives
who support political correctness
and bossy governments.
Populists argue that
today's liberal elites
are just as powerful and
aloof as the old aristocracy.
Rampant commercialization
and globalization
have left many people behind.
We've been here before.
In late 19th century America,
so-called robber barons
formed vast empires and
accumulated massive wealth.
Politics became corrupted giving a sense
that society was dividing
into winners and losers.
But a succession of reformers,
like President Theodore Roosevelt, took on
these business aristocracies
and cleaned up government.
All this helped to
enhance social mobility.
Just as liberalism reformed itself then,
it must reform itself again.
The rise of populism
is not the death knell
for the liberal project,
it's a call to action.
Up your game or else.
