Conservative vs Liberal(which would best benefit our nation)

To affirm liberalism, unlike my opponent, I am going to actually refer to liberalism. Liberalism is the belief that human nature is mixed: we are rational, but egoistic. We are economic, but self-serving. To quote Adam Smith, noted liberal, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." (Smith, 1776) To quote Bastiat, another famed liberal from 19th century France: “Life, faculties, production – in other words, individuality, liberty, property – this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it.” (Bastiat, The Law, 1850). And again: “We cannot doubt that self-interest is the mainspring of human nature.” (Bastiat, Economic Harmonies, 1850) This view of human nature is the most accurate regarding how we see humans acting today: our entire society is based on this. Let us take small government, a truly liberal value. Liberalism, after all, fought off against the corrupt authoritarian states of France, Spain and England – not to mention the United States proper - in order to create a constitutional monarchy at the least, true liberal democracies at best. To refer to the first truly great liberal (excluding Grotius), John Locke: “The great and chief end, therefore, of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property. To which in the state of nature there are many things wanting.” (Locke, 1689) The legislative cannot “possibly be absolutely arbitrary over the lives and fortunes of the people” (Locke, 1689). In fact, “The [legislative] power, in the utmost bounds of it, is limited to the public good of the society. It is a power, that hath no other end but preservation, and therefore can never* have a right to destroy, enslave, or designedly to impoverish the subjects.” (Locke, 1689) To quote Mises, another noted liberal: “The only task of the strictly Liberal state is to secure life and property against attacks both from external and internal foes.” (Mises, 1922). And what of the large state? The socialist state? “Th[is] State is the great fiction through which everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else” (Bastiat, The State, 1848). Liberalism is clearly in favour of a smaller state: and no wonder, when we look rationally at it. If we are homo economicus, or economic men, we understand what is best in our interests: the government telling us what to do, then, is either redundant or wrong. Redundant in that if it tells us what we’re already going to do, it needn’t say anything at all. Wrong in that if it were to force us to do otherwise, we’d be less efficient. Rational men need no state to be directed, except to, as Locke puts it clearly, maintain order and protect property. We can also clearly see how liberalism now is the staunch defender of private property. To quote Mises again: “The program of liberalism, condensed into a single word, would have to read: property.” (Mises, Liberalism, 1929). To quote his later work 15 years later, he states the liberal utopia: “Imagine a world order in which liberalism is supreme . . . there is private property in the means of production. The working of the market is not hampered by government interference. There are no trade barriers; men can live and work where they want.” (Mises, 1944) (emphasis added). Liberalism clearly for Mises is the staunch defender of private property. Why? Again, look at Liberalism’s history. It arose as a reaction to the protectionist policies of the conservatives: protectionism which is run rampant in nations like the United States which is causing the myriad of problems it is having. Manchesterite Capitalism, which fought against the protectionist policies like the Corn Laws, had members wholly from liberal ideologues, including supporters of Peel, another clear liberal. The liberal response to protectionism can be found by Cobden and Bright (the two major Manchesterites)’s ideological ally who they cite many times, Frédéric Bastiat: “I do dispute their right to impose these plans upon us by law – by force – and to compel us to pay for them with our taxes” (Bastiat, 1850). So again, liberals strongly support Capitalism. To what extent, however, do liberals support Capitalism? Well, in regards to free trade, I shall restate the opinion of Cobden, the Manchesterite: “I see in the Free-trade principle that which shall act on the moral world as the principle of gravitation in the universe,—drawing men together, thrusting aside the antagonism of race, and creed, and language, and uniting us in the bonds of eternal peace.” (Cobden, 1908) And finally, the most obvious liberal value: liberty. Liberals and liberty go together naturally, if not intuitively. As the name suggests, liberals prize fundamentally freedom. I shall first briefly refer to liberal scholars’ opinions as evidence of this. Again to quote Bastiat: “The solution to the problems of human relationships is to be found in liberty” (Bastiat, 1850). As Locke states regarding the importance of freedom: “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.” (Locke, 1689) Moreover: “if you attempt to make the law religious, fraternal, equalizing, philanthropic, industrial, literary, or artistic—you will then be lost in an uncharted territory, in vagueness and uncertainty, in a forced utopia or, even worse, in a multitude of utopias, each striving to seize the law and impose it upon you.” (Bastiat, The Law, 1850) In other words, to make the law not about liberty but about, say, philanthropy, you are going towards totalitarianism or anarchy. “I passionately love liberty, legality, the respect for rights….liberty is my foremost passion. That is the truth” (Tocqueville, 1835). “Freedom is alone the unoriginated birthright of man” (Kant, The Metaphysics of Morals, 1785). “To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man” (Rousseau, 1762). The list goes on and on with liberals proposing the supremacy of liberty. And the reason is obvious, once we understand humans are rational but egoistic creatures. If we are rational beings, then again we are the best judges of our own future and what we ought to do. Therefore, the more freedom we have, the more likely we are to pursue our own ends. And the more we pursue our own ends, the happier we are as human beings, and the better society is – for a society where everyone is pleased is, on aggregate, a pleased society. The state exists to stop individuals coercing others, but apart from this unique exception, the liberty of the individual is paramount. Bibliography Bastiat, F. (1848). Justice and Fraternity. Bastiat, F. (1848). The State. Journal des débats. Bastiat, F. (1850). Economic Harmonies. Bastiat, F. (1850). The Law. Cobden, R. (1908). Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P (Vol. I). (J. T. Rogers, & J. Bright, Eds.) London: T.Fisher Unwin. Friedman, M. (n.d.). Source Needed). Hayek, F. v. (1944). The Road to Serfdom. Kant, I. (1785). The Metaphysics of Morals. Kant, I. (1788). Critique of Practical Reason. Kant, I. (1791). The Principles of Political Right. Keynes, J. M. (1919). The Economic Consequences of the Peace. Locke, J. (1689). Two Treatises. Mises, L. v. (1922). Socialism : an Economic and Sociological Analysis. Mises, L. v. (1929). Liberalism. Mises, L. v. (1944). Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War. Rothbard, M. (1960). The Mantle of Science. Rousseau, J.-J. (1762). Emile. Rousseau, J.-J. (1762). The Social Contract. Rousseau, J.-J. (1782). The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Smith, A. (1776). The Wealth of Nations. Spooner, L. (1886). A Letter to Grover Cleveland on His False Inaugural Address: The Usurpations And Crimes Of Lawmakers And Judges And The Consequent Poverty, Ignorance And Servitude Of The People. Tocqueville, A. D. (1835). Democracy in America.