Classic Liberals (or plainly Liberals) are largely focused on the rights of the individual and center on the Three Freedoms - speech, action and belief. It is meritocratic and stands firmly behind a strong market system with limited government intrusion. Private Ownership of property and the sovereignty of the individual are paramount. It is the chief mode of thinking of the so-called Scottish Enlightenment. John Locke, David Hume and Adam Smith are its inspiration. The US Constitution is essentially a Classic Liberal document.
Adam Smith - Source adamsmith.org
Conservatism incorporates that which classical liberalism stands for but goes further with regard to society as a unit. As Russel Kirk outlines in his ‘Ten Conservative Principles’ - custom, convention, and continuity - are vital . So is the abiding notion of precedent and prudence. Conservatives place strong value in the permanence of moral truths and are concerned with a transcendent order. Its greatest early thinker was Edmund Burke.
Edmund Burke - Source Merion West
Both of these philosophies merge to form mainstream Modern American Conservatism. This brings together right-libertarian economic views with the pillars of traditional and social conservatism. American philosopher Frank Meyer described this joining of the two rivers of thought as Fusionism. Since the Reagan era it has played an important role in the political platform of the GOP.
Sources:
- Ten Conservative Principles
- Frank S. Meyer, In Defense of Freedom and Other Essays, Indianapolis, Liberty Fund, 1996
- Liberalism - Classical liberalism
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