6.8 Viability of Liberal Values in Today's World

Are the values of liberalism viable?



Big Ideas
  • Appreciate various perspectives regarding the viability of the values of liberalism.
  • Appreciate various perspectives regarding the promotion of liberalism within political and economic systems.
  • Evaluate the extent to which the values of liberalism are viable in the context of contemporary issues.

Restricting Liberal Values

When Should Liberal Values be Restricted?

Remember the key liberal values of individualism and liberalism stress self-interest and self-reliance along with individual rights and freedoms. These liberal values promote individuals maintaining their independence to satisfy their own wants and needs by relying on themselves to act in their own best interests. Above all, government involvement in the affairs of society should be limited. Government should get involved in society for only the following things:

  • Security–Individuals should be kept safe through law enforcement by the police and there should be military to keep people safe from external threats (that is, attacks from other countries).

  • Protection of Rights and Freedoms–Individual rights and freedoms, including private property, should be protected and guaranteed by the government.

  
 

 

Understanding that if a society adopted a true liberal ideology, there would be no laws and no rules is important. This state of extreme freedom is called anarchy, which is the absence or failure of government that results usually in disorder and chaos.

In theory, anarchy would work if each individual respected the people around them and made decisions to support the common good, but history has shown that this does not happen. One of the biggest dilemmas confronting liberal ideology is to find ways to be fair to everyone while finding the balance between individual freedom and government control.

Liberal thinkers understand the need for government laws restricting individual freedoms to some extent. They understand that rules and laws are set by governing bodies to help maintain peace and order in society. Liberal democracies are committed to liberal ideology, but can a society become too liberalized? Can liberalization make individuals too free?

 
 John Stuart Mill, an early advocate of modern liberalism, considered this issue with his statement on the Harm Principle. This principle states that the government should make laws only to prevent people from doing harm to other people. In all other areas, the government must not restrict personal freedom. Government can restrict people by law only if the action violates someone else's rights. Government cannot make people do something, even if it would make them happier or better people or wiser.


Modern liberals use laws and other methods to control some economic, social, and political activities to maintain the stability of the government and to maintain a balance between freedom and control. Commitment to liberalism requires finding a balance between individual rights and freedoms and the common good. If individual freedoms interfere with the common good, should government interfere by limiting those freedoms? If the order of society is threatened, should government be able to limit severely or even take away individual freedoms?

Just how capable of being effective (viable) are liberal values when confronted by issues in today's world? Following are examples of liberal democratic governments limiting individual rights and freedoms

 

Canada:

  • War Measures Act

  • Emergencies Act

  • Anti-Terrorism Act

  • Security Certificates

  

United States:

  • Patriot Act

  • Racial Profiling

 These examples are explained in the following reading in your textbook. On a case-by-case basis, are the governments of Canada and the United States justified in restricting liberal values severely?
 


Read "Limiting the Values of Liberalism" on pages 365-372 of your textbook, Understandings of Ideology. These pages will further your understanding of the concept of liberal value viability in today's world.

You should make notes, either on paper or on your computer, about what you have read. You may want to read the tutorial How to Make Notes. When you are finished the tutorial, return here to continue this unit.