The Problem with Liberalism

In my Facebook profile, I describe myself as a "Liberal RWNJ". (RWNJ=Right Wing Nut Job) What I mean by this is that I tend to hold a liberal personal value system. However, as a social scientist and someone interested in political philosophy, I am concerned about public policies that actually work. Yes, I am in favor of greater equality in wealth, extensive immigration, sexual orientation equality, elimination of bigotry, and all those liberal agenda items.

For example, we have a long line of political philosophical thought from Socrates, Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, to Tocqueville, who have developed political systems that tend to work in the long term. While the idea of a philosopher king is appealing, that is only a short-term solution and the next philosopher king may not be quite as good. That is why I support systems of checks and balances, democratic inputs, etc. They limit and handcuff government but they also prevent abuse by those in power.

Similarly, I strongly believe that for a civilization to survive, you must have a moral tradition and appeal to cultural and social norms. A power elite that tries to progress faster than the culture will allow will result in a backlash. And a civilization that somehow rejects the moral traditions will have problems.

As to the social scientist, we have to be aware of not just the anticipated outcomes of a program but also the unintentioned consequences of our policies. People tend to react to policies in certain ways, based on their culture, social norms, and self interest.

The following article from the Economist (one of the most reliable magazines IMHO) illustrate the problem. In an attempt to open up home ownership and increase equality, the US embarked on series of policies which led to the current economic downturn. (And the current downturn is especially hard on the lower middle classes.)

"The problem, as often is the case with government policies, was not intent. It rarely is. But when lots of easy money pushed by a deep-pocketed government comes into contact with the profit motive of a sophisticated, competitive, and amoral financial sector, matters get taken far beyond the government’s intent."


http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/inequality_and_crash_0