Liberalism Misunderstood

Hyunseok Ryu

8 November 2021

(Image courtesy of Unsplash)

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policy of InQuire Media

Liberalism is one of the most distinguished ideologies in the world. The ideology and its offshoots have been the source of prosperity and change for numerous countries. Britain’s Liberal Party created the welfare state, Korean liberals spearheaded democratisation, and it was liberals across Europe who were the first to truly challenge the elitism of the churches and the aristocracy. The ideals of liberalism also laid the foundation for liberal democracy especially in the west, permitting the freedoms that we couldn’t live without today, making it responsible for moulding the modern world as we know it.

But times have changed, and nowadays liberalism is used as an insult, either by left-wingers who believe liberalism equates to elitism, or by right-wingers to describe the progressive “woke” left. Many parties that follow liberal ideology have waned, and it's uncommon to see liberal parties achieve major victories, while liberalism remains stereotyped and mocked or shunned by populism. It’s clear, liberalism is under attack by populists and mockery, causing a mass misunderstanding of what it really means. In a feat of irony, it’s the very right of free speech for which liberals advocated resulting in this permission of hatred. Currently, only France, Canada, and to some extent the Netherlands have experienced liberal prominence or victory.

However, many people who criticise or mock liberalism aren’t even aware of what liberalism really means, nor are they aware that it’s a branching ideology that has influenced a massive variety of parties, policies, and philosophies. Put simply, liberalism stands for individual liberty (usually with an emphasis on responsibility), a market economy, equality, and democracy. Soon its core ideals branched out to a broad range of ideologies, like social liberalism, conservative liberalism, and classical liberalism to list a few. Many conservatives have also adopted liberal attitudes, the most famous example of which is liberal conservatism.

the ideology wasn’t perfect - with this being made very clear during the great recession. The philosophy of supply creating its own demand doesn’t work during an economic crisis, and the over-deregulation of neoliberalism has received its fair share of criticism. But every ideology has or had its flaws, and all ideologies experience evolution. Yet now liberalism is a euphemism for what everyone hates in politics from both sides.

Liberalism is consistently misunderstood and is being served an injustice. The ideal that created prosperity in Europe, and moulded the idea of responsible liberty is being assaulted and struggling to regain a foothold in many countries. Liberalism needs a revival and must claw itself out of this war against it, and people must understand the potential we gain from either returning to the origins of our greatness, or at least take inspiration from it.

In the heat of this excessive condemnation and misunderstanding, liberals must evolve as all other ideologies have. In doing so it can prove once again that it’s an ideology worth voting for and believing in. Like when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown saw that Labour had to be revived via the Third Way, and when much of the Conservatives realised the benefits of having certain culturally liberal stances, liberals must do the same.

Admittedly, we don’t yet know how we will see the revival of liberalism, or if liberals will be able to revive themselves at all. Not to mention, every country in the world has a different standard of liberalism, and the flavour of the dominant liberalism varies. Most liberal parties in Europe are likely to have branched out of classical liberalism and closely follow its doctrines favouring balanced budgets, while parties like the Liberal Party of Canada or the Liberal Democrats of the UK are social liberals - more inclined towards social spending. This means that approaches will have to differ, and ideological makeups vary.

But in these trying times, liberals must remain optimistic and determined. Illiberalism is on the rise in western nations, while Asia still struggles with embracing a more tolerant and open society - with Taiwan being a notable exception. We also enter a new era, and with a new decade, we must embrace changes to our mindset and approaches to society.

In this decade, the status quo parties and their dominance are getting exhausting. Social democracy has been one of the primary ideologies and a standard in governance in Europe, but now its parties are either debilitated or slowly crawling their way back into relevance propping up a tired status quo. We must likewise grow tired of conservatism with liberal characteristics, or the threats of illiberalism, meaning it’s just about time we brought back the inspiration which built the modern world in the first place, and innovate upon it. Perhaps one of the oldest ideologies in the world can be what renews our politics and nations just as it did during its inception. Liberalism shaped the past, and it can very well be what we need to envision the future.