Throughout the ages, the principles of equality and liberty have been a subject of great disputes. Liberal minimalism [1] holds a distinct outlook in the explicit implications of these expressions. For a minimalist democracy must strive to primary reduce control of authoritarian power through restraining most if not all constraints to the individual, allowing them to dictate their own lives by implementing a representative government. In addition, it implements an equal, consistent, and indiscriminate regulation. Thus effectively preventing tyranny, and creating equality before the law, irrelevant to the citizen’s position, which denies high ranking individuals legal advantages seen during the feudal era. Accordingly, the rule of law comes across to liberals as their greatest triumph, for they perceive it as the lawful representation of equality and liberty. There are numerous critics of the liberal minimalist interpretation of equality and social liberty before the law. Such as inequalities of opportunity, and material inequality which results in exploitation. However, liberals will reject “to impose upon the public a consciously selected model of distribution, whether it promotes equality or of inequality.”[2] Numerous critics agree that capitalism in the liberal minimalist model does not depict true equality and thus is problematic. Critics such as Sherman dispute that it produces "formal equality, such as civil rights, yet presents actual ongoing inequality for employees (Sherman, 1990)[3]. Nevertheless, despite the fact that liberals may possibly appear to support significant material equity, they will be cautious of forcefully creating this result through authoritarianism on the basis of their belief.[4] The reduced goal... ... middle of paper ... ...27 11, Cohen G, 1989, Labor and Freedom, Oxford University Press, Oxford 12, (Marx, economic and philosophical manuscripts, p.120-31, Ollman, 1971). 13 Friedman M, 1962, Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago University Press 14 Frank R. and Cook P, 1996, The Winner-Take-All Society, Penguin press, New York: Penguin 15 Graham G, 2006, Postcapitalist Politics, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 16 Street, P. Capitalism and Democracy "Don't Mix Very Well", February, 2000. < http://www.iefd.org/articles/capitalism_and_democracy> 17 Rothbart M, 1998, The Ethics of Liberty: chp 14, Children and Rights,. New York University press, New York 18 Hayek F, 1994, The Road to Serfdom, Chicago University press, Chicago 19 Hayek F, 1994, The Road to Serfdom, Chicago University press, Chicago 20 Hayek F, 1994, The Road to Serfdom, Chicago University press, Chicago
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Fourth ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 247-316. Print.
Equality in American Democracy American democracy changed drastically after the Civil War. One of the major changes in American democracy was equality. Today, American citizens are more equal than the Americans before the Civil War. Major movements, events, and government decisions changed the way people view equality today. Some of these changes improved the equality between American citizens, but others only increased the inequality.
Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .
Since the resurgence of unregulated capitalism in the late 20th century, social inequalities have grown significantly, with one percent of the most powerful countries attaining more wealth than half the world (Dunklin 2). Canada’s income gap has also risen, exacerbating morbidity and mortality (Bryant 47). However, the extent that government should reduce social inequities is controversial in a liberal democracy, which prioritizes economic freedom. That being said, social inequalities may lead to wealthier individuals gaining an advantage in policy making (Bryant 54; Rein 63), undermining the liberal democratic value of political equality. Moreover, the ideal of economic freedom is shrinking in today’s global economy, which exhibits massive enterprises stifling competition and creating economic instability (Foster 2). In light of these issues, the aim of this essay is to detail how unregulated capitalism detracts from a liberal democracy by undermining political equality and economic freedom.
Foner, Eric. "Chapter 9." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Brief Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.
Democracy stresses the equality of all individuals and insists that all men are created equal. Democracy does not persist on an equality of condition for all people or argue that all persons have a right to an equal share of worldly goods. Rather, its concept of equality insists that all are entitled to equality of opportunity and equality before the law. The democratic concept of equality holds that no person should be held back for any such arbitrary reasons as those based on race, color, religion, or gender. This concept of equality holds that each person must be free to develop himself or herself as fully as he or she can or cares to and that each person should be treated as the equal of all other persons by the law. We have come a great distance toward reaching the goal of equality for all in this country, but however close we are we are still at a considerable distance from a genuine universally recognized and respected equality for all. I will go into more details giving more information and making it clear to understand equality and civil rights for all and it affects everyone.
Foner, E. (2013). Give me liberty! an american history. (Seagull 4th ed., Vol. 2, p. 708).
4.de Toqueville, Alexis. Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), 358.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty. Third Edition. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
Dworkin, R. (1996). Freedom's law: The Moral Reading of the American Constitution. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
30.) Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. 4th ed. (W.W. Norton, 2012), 599.
Laura Bassett, a reporter from the Huffington Post, explains that in today’s society women are paid 77 cents for every dollar that a man earns, resulting in women being paid an average of $37,800 a year compared to men who are paid an average of $49,400 per year in 2012 (Women Still Earned 77 Cents On Men's Dollar In 2012: Report). Also, when a man and a woman apply for the same job, the man will almost always be chosen. This has resulted in the amount of full-time working males increasing by 1 million within a years time, and the number for full-time working women remained nearly the same. To this day, females are not treated equally to males even though almost a century has gone by from 1920 when women gained their deserved suffrage rights and other rights of equivalent importance. Both men and women are standing up to spread the awareness of the meager changes to women’s rights throughout the years. One way to raise awareness is to write a book, and many books have been made about the lack of equality rights for women. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the main character Lily witnesses several equality rights between men and woman in the way that females are treated by males, which has become a major social issue in today’s society.
Simmons, A. John (1992). The Lockean Theory of Rights. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 127.
Modern day society is engrossed in a battle for protection of individual rights and freedoms from infringement by any person, be it the government or fellow citizens. Liberalism offers a solution to this by advocating for the protection of personal freedom. As a concept and ideology in political science, liberalism is a doctrine that defines the motivation and efforts made towards the protection of the aforementioned individual freedom. In the current society, the greatest feature of liberalism is the protection of individual liberty from intrusion or violation by a government. The activities of the government have, therefore, become the core point of focus. In liberalism, advocacy for personal freedom may translate to three ideal situations, based on the role that a government plays in a person’s life. These are no role, a limited role or a relatively large role. The three make up liberalism’s rule of thumb. (Van de Haar 1). Political theorists have
Equality is a concept mankind never is able to grasp correctly. Of course humans will always search for different solutions to create fairness, but factors such as human greed, ignorance of mass populations, and even biological aspects stagnates the process of equality. The oldest and most relevant discussion on equality lies with the difference of sex; man versus woman. Initially, men, because of their physical superiority, were given the prospects many women never even dreamt to have. Conversely, as time has progressed, women have fought this unfair treatment with demands of suffrage and similar rights to those of their male equivalents. Greatly enough, this generation has done an exceptional job in the challenge of overcoming sexism and inequality. However, will this search for equality ever end? When can we say we have created an equal race of men and women? The fact of the matter is that it is truly impossible to have equality between the sexes because of predisposed circumstances that are not easily controllable in the slightest bit.