Presentation Transcript

1. A quick re-cap: Classical liberal thinkers like Locke believed the main function of government was to protect individuals’ natural rights to life, liberty and property, and laws created by the government had to be approved by society With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the British parliament adopted the ideas of classical liberalism, limiting government control of the economy as much as possible This led to a widening gap between the rich and poor Ideologies challenging classical liberalism began to emerge, causing the idea of liberalism to evolve Eventually, classical liberal ideas expanded into modern liberal ideas like the right to an education, health care, and other issues that require more government involvement
2. Negative vs. Positive Freedoms Negative Positive “Freedom of,” or “Freedom to” Associated more with modern liberalism Example: Freedom of conscience and religion “Freedom from” Associated more with classical liberalism Example: Freedom from persecution for following a chosen faith or spirituality
3. Alternative Currents of Thought & the Evolution of Modern Liberal Thought
4. Environmentalism
5. Environmentalism A political and ethical ideology that focuses on protecting the natural environment and lessening the harmful effects that human activities have on the ecosystem Has roots as far back as the 1800s, but gained momentum and credibility in the 1960s 1962 – Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, which explained how pesticides enter the food chain and impact humans and animals; this is credited with being the impetus to have a deeper understanding of the impact of humans on the ecosystem
6. Environmental Organizations 1970s – Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other environmental organizations formed and began putting pressure on governments for environmental protection law Greenpeace was particularly effective: 1970s – the US and France banned certain types of nuclear testing 1980s-1990s – the UN banned driftnet fishing and countries banned dumping toxic waste in water sources 2000s – major computer companies stopped using certain toxic chemicals in their products
7. A Healthy Environment with a Healthy Economy Article 12, UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: “everyone has the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,” and to get that we need to improve, “all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene” 46.1, Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms: everyone “has a right to live in a healthful environment in which biodiversity is preserved, to the extent and according to the standards provided by law”
8. Divergent Views Environmentalists speak about the negative impact of many economic activities on the environment – mining, etc. Free-market economists and skeptics of global warming claim environmental reform of the economy will do more harm than good Worldwatch Institute and others like it advocates increasing taxes on manufacturers, government regulation of natural resources, return policies for consumers so they can return goods when they are no longer useful, and urging consumer consumption
9. Current Examples: 2008 – introduction of the idea of a Carbon Tax in Canada during the Federal election; a carbon tax was introduced in BC in 2008, the first place in North America to do so Mid-2000s – Kyoto Accord Anything else you can think of?
10. Neo-Conservatism
11. Neo-Conservatism An ideology that emerged in the US during the 1950s-1960s as a reaction against modern liberal principles Some aspects challenge modern liberal principles and favour a return to particular values of classical liberalism; some ideas “went too far” Other neo-conservative ideas challenge both classical and modern liberal principles and favour values identified as “family values” and traditional values, often resting on a religious foundation
12. Examples Civil rights movements during the ‘50s and ‘60s led to affirmative action, a policy where women and minorities are given greater educational and employment opportunities in an attempt to correct past wrongs and discriminations Neo-cons rejected affirmative action because it went against their idea of individualism This period was also one of détente, which also caused the neo-cons to rally because they saw détente as being weak foreign policy: they wanted to promote democracy overseas and fight communism
13. Timeline of Neo-Conservatism 1980s - Neo-conservatism grew and was evident in the policies of Reagan and Thatcher The Cold War heated up at the same time due to increased military spending by Reagan – when the Cold War finally ended in the 1990s, neo-cons felt they had finally won 1990s – Support for neo-conservatism dropped off and Presidents George H.W Bush and Bill Clinton decreased military spending 1997 – Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was established by neo-cons to advocate more defence spending; many members of PNAC became members of George W. Bush’s administration 2001 – the White House adopted a neo-conservative policy of promoting democracy abroad after the 9/11 attacks
14. Economics General neo-conservative economic beliefs: Economic growth can be stimulated by cutting taxes Government involvement in economic markets should be limited The WTO and IMF are influenced by neo-conservative thought as they promote free trade, tariff reduction, concessions and regulations allowing the government to be involved in commerce
15. Role of Government Modern liberals believe the government should provide most essential services (education and health care) Classical liberals want to limit government intervention but believe the government should be responsible for things like education Neo-cons prefer alternate ways of providing services to government providing them (privately funded private schools)
16. Foreign Policy The course of action taken by a country in its relations with other countries Example: Isolationist policy – post-WWI the US wanted to stay out of international events
17. Neo-Cons Foreign Policy Patriotism was good and should be encouraged World government would lead to tyranny so is not a good idea A large country needs a large military to protect its interests outside its own borders Democratic capitalism should be promoted elsewhere as it is the preferred system of government These ideologies had a strong influence on US and British foreign policy in the 1980s and again post-9/11; it was one aspect of the decision to invade Iraq
18. Morality Neo-cons have generally traditional views on social issues and are concerned with traditional moral culture Neo-cons are influenced by the Christian Right (see p. 290 of the text) Some beliefs: Curtailing abortion rights Allowing prayer in all schools Urging teaching of creationism in science classes
19. Religious Perspectives
20. Religious Perspectives Religious beliefs and traditions held by different religions Religious freedom and freedom of expression are principles supported by most liberal democracies, so people can choose their religion and they can choose to criticize liberal principles they do not agree with
21. Doukhobors Immigrants from Russia who moved to Canada in the 1800s to escape persecution They owned and worked property as a community They did not recognize the authority of a secular government and would not swear an oath of loyalty to Canada The government eventually took away their homestead land grants
22. Hutterites Immigrants who moved to Canada from Germany in the 1900s They settled in self-sufficient colonies and earn money as a collective They are pacifists and refused to participate in either World War Their emphasis on community differs from the classical liberal idea of individual over society
23. Merging Religion and Common Law While freedom of religion is a central value of liberalism, sometimes governments do place limitations on religious practices to prevent them from conflicting with the individual rights of the members of the religion Example: Not allowing Islamists in Canada to use sharia law to settle family disputes because sharia law is incompatible with the Canadian legal system as it treats men and women differently This caused Islamists in Ontario, who were trying to get the right to practice this law, to protest that Catholic and Jewish tribunals were the same thing The Ontario government has since taken steps to ban all religious arbitration and use only the legal system