How to look at Western liberal ideas

The word liberalism is derived from the Spanish word "Li- berales", which was first used as the name of the Spanish Liberal Party in the early 19th century to denote the party's eclectic approach to politics, which is neither radical nor conservative, and has since become widely popular in Europe and North America, where it has become a synonym for a bourgeois school of thought. Although liberals tend to adopt a pragmatic approach to social issues, causing the content of liberalism to change frequently, its emphasis on individual freedom based on rationality and its advocacy of the preservation of individuality development have always been at the core of liberalism. Liberals advocate that the political, economic and social life of the state should be aimed at preserving individual liberty and oppose any form of tyranny, whether by the state, the church, social custom or public opinion; that life, liberty and property are the inalienable and fundamental rights of the citizenry, that the citizenry enjoys a wide range of liberties to the extent permitted by the law, that the state should practise representative democracy, and that the power of the state must be be limited, and the state should practice the rule of law and separation of powers to protect citizens' rights. Libertarians expect society to develop and progress, and advocate both reform and opposition to conservatism, as well as radical democratism and K. Marx's socialism.

The development of liberal political thought has gone through two historical periods, traditional liberalism and modern liberalism. The traditional liberal period lasted from the 17th century until the end of the 19th century, while the modern liberal period lasted from the end of the 19th century until contemporary times. In contrast to the name of traditional liberalism, modern liberalism is also known as neoliberalism.

Traditional Liberalism Britain was the birthplace of liberalism, and J. Locke, the "originator of liberal thought", was the first to put forward the principle of liberty. He systematically elaborated the idea of natural rights, put forward the meaning of the right to liberty is political freedom, freedom of property and freedom of thought, and put forward the establishment of government is based on the consent of the people and so on the claim. 1776 American War of Independence was born of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Constitution of the United States of America formulated in 1787, and the Bill of Rights came into effect in 1791, has established and elaborated the principle of liberalism in the form of a political program and the form of the law. T. Penn and T. Jefferson made significant contributions to this, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 became the most typical liberal manifesto of the 18th century, which, together with Montesquieu's ideas on liberty and the separation of powers, extended the influence of liberalism to the whole West. During this period, liberalism became a powerful weapon of the bourgeoisie against the feudal system.

From the end of the 18th century to the 19th century, adapting to the needs of free competition in capitalism, liberal thinkers such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and J. Mill in Britain centered on the economic problems of the state, and expounded on individual freedom and the role of the state. They advocated economic freedom, freedom of contract and freedom of competition, and proposed that the state should pursue a laissez-faire policy, not intervene in economic and social life, and give individuals greater freedom of activity.J. Bianchin put forward the utilitarianism for liberalism laid a new theoretical foundation, and pointed out that the purpose of the state is to ensure the "greatest happiness for the greatest number of people". "J.S. Mill, on the other hand, extended the exploration of freedom to a broader social field, and he proposed the boundary between individual freedom and social control, advocating the preservation of individual freedom in society. In contrast to H. Spencer, who advocated the reduction of governmental functions and the total laissez-faire of the state, Mill explicitly advocated limited laissez-faire and a certain degree of state intervention. Mill brought about a major turnaround in traditional liberal thought and began the transition to modern liberalism.

Modern Liberalism The pioneers of this political trend were the British neo-liberal political faction represented by T. H. Green, L. T. Hobhouse, J. A. Hobson, and E. Barker and the American modern liberals represented by W. Weil, H. Crowley, and J. Dewey. Based on moral theory, they advocate that individual freedom should be consistent with public **** interests and social development. The state should create conditions for individual freedom, remove obstacles and provide guarantees. The role of the state is positive and interference is necessary. The State should help the poor and the weak, set minimum income standards and standards of living, introduce various types of social insurance, and expand public **** education. They advocated more social cooperation and reformism. They criticized both imperialism and scientific socialism and advocated the Third Way.

The two world wars hindered the spread of modern liberalism in Europe, and the New Deal introduced by F. D. Roosevelt advanced the development of modern liberalism in the United States. Economic security is the essential foundation of the right to freedom, social equality is the main manifestation of freedom, and state intervention is the necessary guarantee of freedom - these became the principles that American modern liberals believed in. The prosperity of capitalism brought about by strong state intervention made modern liberalism famous and it became a political trend that swept across the West. the 1950s and 1960s were the heyday of the development of modern liberalism. In order to achieve recovery after the Second World War, Britain, France and the Federal Republic of Germany strengthened the role of the state and built a "welfare state". However, the contradictions inherent in capitalist society were not cured, and liberalism was seriously challenged by the social and economic problems that emerged in the West in the 1970's. Based on the principle of justice, J.B. Rawls reiterated the basic theory of liberalism, and provided the most detailed argumentation for modern liberalism so far. He developed the traditional contract theory and put forward the theory of "justice as fairness", elaborating a series of issues such as equal freedom, fair opportunity, fair distribution, duty and responsibility, which caused a shock in the field of political, legal, philosophical and ethical thought.

After the 1970s, the ranks of modern liberalism were sharply divided. Some liberals shifted to a conservative stance, rejecting positive liberty, opposing state intervention, advocating the restoration of the principles of traditional liberty, and promoting laissez-faire. These conservatives in modern liberalism transformed into liberal conservatives and became important members of neoconservatism.

Influence Liberalism is the most important political trend in the West in modern, modern and even contemporary times. Its originator, development and changes show the changing political winds and clouds of western society. It has not only greatly influenced the western social democracy, pragmatism, neoconservatism and other political factions or trends, but also become the theoretical basis for the formulation of policies in major capitalist countries such as Britain and the United States for a fairly long period of time.