SUGGESTATION

Apologies for the ramble - a little bit under the weather today!

In one of my first posts on this shiny new blog, I wrote that I was fed up with the obsession with ‘leftism’ and ‘rightism’ in politics. Now, admittedly, it sounds like a throwaway line, but I’d like to continue with that thought for a few sentences.

I’ve just read a little comment-is-free Guardian piece (a few days old, I’m slow) which notes ‘Libertarianism’s leftward shift’. Apparently because some Libertarians have left the Republican party in the US. Obviously if liberals were to join the Repubs en-masse, then that would denote a shift of Liberalism to the right. Right?

I have a big problem with broad political labels. One can spend hours trying to work out what the difference between a ‘Liberal’ and a ‘Libertarian’ is. Have fun with that… Are you talking about Liberalism in the US? Europe? Classical Liberalism? Neoliberalism? Chalk and cheese.

One thing I hope that can be agreed upon is that we all have a belief, to one degree or another, in the right to social freedoms for the individual. This belief transcends left/right divides - though those divides often dictate how freedoms are provided for (positive vs negative freedoms, society over the individual etc). Party politics however tend to focus more on socialism vs conservatism. What surprises me is that liberalism seems to be an add-on. Something nice to have on certain occasions, but not a core value. For me, Liberalism is the single most important quality I look for in a political party - other aspects combined may turn me off a liberal party, but one I deem to be illiberal, or outright authoritarian will never get my vote.

/end rant