To sap initiative the cult of the self

SKIM reading. Work in pairs:look through the text and bring out the topical sentences conveying the main ideas of the text.

TEXT 2: LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM

Any account of political ideologies must start with liberalism. This is because liberalism is, in effect, the ideology of the industrialised West, and is sometimes portrayed as a meta - ideology that is capable of embracing a broad range of rival values and beliefs. Although liberalism did not emerge as a developed political creed until the early nineteenth century, distinctively liberal theories and principles had gradually been developed during the previous 300 years.

The central theme of classical liberalism is a commitment to an extreme form of individualism. The state is regarded as a 'necessary evil'. It is 'necessary' in that, at the very least, it establishes order and security. However, it is 'evil' in that it imposes a collective will upon society, thus limiting the freedom and responsibilities of the individual. In the form of economic liberalism, this position is

 

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underpinned by a deep faith in the mechanisms of the free market and the belief that the economy works best when left alone by government.

Modem liberalism is characterised by a more sympathetic attitude towards state intervention. Modern liberals abandoned their belief in laissez-faire capitalism, largely as a result of J.M. Keynes¹ insight that growth and prosperity could only be maintained through a system of managed or regulated capitalism, with key economic responsibilities being placed in the hands of the state.

Neoliberalism is an updated version of classical political economy. The central pillars of neoliberalism are the market and the individual. The principal neoliberal goal is to 'roll back the frontiers of the state', in the belief that unregulated market capitalism will deliver efficiency, growth and widespread prosperity. In this view, the 'dead hand' of the state saps initiative and discourages enterprise; government, however well intentioned, invariably has a damaging effect upon human affairs. This is reflected in the liberal New Right's concern with the politics of ownership, and its preference for private enterprise over state enterprise or nationalisation. The nanny state is seen to breed a culture of dependency and to undermine freedom, which is understood as freedom of choice in the market place. Instead, faith is placed in self-help, individual responsibility and entrepreneunahsm.

Conservative ideas and doctrines first emerged in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century as a reaction against growing pace of economic and political change.

From the very outset, divisions in conservative thought were apparent. In continental Europe, a form of conservatism emerged that was characterised by the attitude rejecting out of hand any idea of reform. A more flexible, more cautious, and ultimately more successful form of conservatism developed in the UK and the USA that was characterised by belief in 'change in order to conserve'. This stance enabled conservatives to embrace the cause of social reform under the paternalistic banner of 'One Nation'.

The New Right represents a departure in conservative thought that amounts to a kind of counter-revolution against both the postwar drift towards state intervention and spread of liberal or progressive social values However, the New Right does not so much constitute a coherent and systematic philosophy as an attempt to marry two distinct traditions usually termed 'neoliberalism' and 'neoconservatism'.

i John M. Keynes (1883-1946) - UK economist, established the discipline now known as macroeconomics, provided the theoretical basis for the policy of demand management.

Neoconservatism reasserts nineteenth-century conservative social principles. The conservative New Right wishes, above all, to restore authority and return to traditional values, notably those linked to the family, religion and the nation. Authority is seen as guaranteeing social stability, while shared values and common culture are believed ю generate social cohesion and make civilised existence possible. The enemies of neoconservatism are therefore permissiveness, the cult of the self. Another aspect of neoconservatism is the tendency to view the emergence of multicultural and tnultireligious societies with concern, on the basis that they are conflict-ridden and inherently unstable. It is sceptical about both immigration and the growing influence of supranational bodies such as the United Nations and the r.uropean Union.