Responsible Liberalism

I moved to the US from Sweden and shook my head as regards to the US so called liberals. In my eyes they had totally lost their way. They talked and acted like old school statists at best and socialists at worst. US Libertarians with a capitol L was not even close to libertarians, classic liberals.

The I found the Responsible liberalism of former California Governor Pat Brown. In his inaugural speech presented January 5, 1959 he put into word exactly how I felt what classic liberalism is. It is not class, racial or gender divise politics of the poststructuralist left but politics of hope:

http://www.californiagovernors.ca.gov/h/documents/inaugural_32.html

The essence of liberalism is a genuine concern and deep respect for all the people. Not monuments or institutions or associations, but people. Not one race, or one creed, or one nationality, but all the people. When people come first and special privilege is scorned, government is truly liberal.

In a liberal atmosphere, the individual stands secure against invasion of his dignity or intrusion on his conscience. He has the right to require justice and fair play, the right to demand protection from economic abuse and selfish threats to his security. At the same time, government must not, in naïve good intention, stifle his initiative or smother his growth. Men must indeed have freedom to breathe the air of self-respect.

A liberal program must also be a responsible program, a reasonable, rational, realistic program. We must know how much it will cost and where the money is coming from. Benefits must be measured against burdens. A program which pampers the people or threatens our solvency is as irresponsible as the one which ignores a vital need. But we will always remember that there is a difference between responsibility and timidity, and we are resolved to be governed more by our hopes than by our fears.