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To: DWPittelli
I am a classical liberal,..

I do not have a problem with such things as public roads and public funding of primary and secondary education, although I see little scope for the federal government in either...

I had no idea there was such a thing as a "Classical Liberal".

You have told me what you "don't have" a problem with, please do tell me what you do have a problem with...

Very curious........

38 posted on 02/22/2008 6:41:17 PM PST by LasVegasMac (Islam: Bringing the world death and destruction for 1400 years!)
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To: LasVegasMac
Look up "Classical liberalism" in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism

It begins:

Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism[1] and laissez-faire liberalism,[2] or, in much of the world, simply called liberalism) is a doctrine stressing individual freedom and limited government. This includes the importance of human rationality, individual property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil liberties, constitutional limitations of government, free markets, and individual freedom from restraint as exemplified in the writings of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill,[3] Montesquieu, Voltaire,[4] Thomas Paine and others. As such, it is seen as the fusion of economic liberalism with political liberalism.[2] The "normative core" of classical liberalism is the idea that laissez-faire economics will bring about a spontaneous order or invisible hand that benefits the society,[5] though it does not necessarily oppose the state's provision of a few basic public goods.[6] The qualification classical was applied in retrospect to distinguish early nineteenth-century liberalism from evolutions in liberal thought during the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially the "new liberalism" associated with Thomas Hill Green, Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse,[7] and Franklin D. Roosevelt,[8] which grants the state a more interventionist role in the economy, including a welfare state. Classical liberalism is not to be confused with the ideology that is commonly called "liberalism" today in the United States, as "classical liberalism" is actually closer to being a tendency of "conservatism" in the U.S.[9]
43 posted on 02/22/2008 6:51:34 PM PST by DWPittelli
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