Liberals need to fight for their values again
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Highlights
- Before liberalism won big, they had to fight. They had to battle the vested interests against free trade, freedom of speech and lifestyle, fair competition in markets, equality on the grounds of race, gender and sexuality, and wealth redistribution.
- The passion of the many is needed to conquer the self-interest of the few—J.S. Mill
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First, liberals must fight alongside and for the powerless, the underdogs of both society and economics. At its root, liberalism is a political philosophy demanding the diffusion of power—whether economic, social or political. That is why liberals want free, competitive, fair markets; a socially liberal culture and laws allowing for human diversity; and pluralism in politics.
- Third, liberals have to sharpen their anti-elite instincts.