tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19384577.post1670419296079641917..comments2024-03-20T19:23:09.857+02:00Comments on Notes from underground: My to-do listSteve Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11283123400540587033noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19384577.post-68670893222612977892008-03-21T06:52:00.000+02:002008-03-21T06:52:00.000+02:00Douloijohanna,The blog I was quoting was a South A...Douloijohanna,<BR/><BR/>The blog I was quoting was a South African one, and, as I noted, Alan Paton was as good a representative of South African liberalism as any, and his "liberal agenda" was precisely the opposite of the slur posted in the blog. <BR/><BR/>But, come to that, yes, I'm also sick of the American discourse that seeks to misrepresent liberalism, and also libertarianism. Classical libertarianism is the belief in free will, as opposed to determinism, whereas modern American libertarianism seems to include a large dollop of free-market fundamentalism. <BR/><BR/>I think that one of the sources of this language pollution is the "clash of civilizations" taking place within the Anglican Communion, which is perhaps a microcosm where one can observe the process. You'll probably find that "the liberal agenda" is a kind of shibboleth used by one or other faction in that squabble, a sort of code word that has a particular meaning to insiders, even though it may mean little, or something completely different, to outsiders. <BR/><BR/>But the fact is that it slanders liberal educationists like Alan Paton (who was also, ironically enough, an Anglican), but whose concerns were precisely the opposite of those implied by the Contact Online blog. Working with juvenile delinquents, Alan Paton was only too well aware of the bad effects of the breakdown of family life on learning, and to impute to him and other liberals a deliberate intention of breaking down family life, as the Contact Online blog does, is really a malicious libel.Steve Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11283123400540587033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19384577.post-28857310877947933132008-03-21T04:08:00.000+02:002008-03-21T04:08:00.000+02:00P.S. I'm of course assuming that the U.S. politico...P.S. I'm of course assuming that the U.S. politico-speak is being exported around the world. We seem to soil words and warp their meaning, ruining them for English speakers everywhere. Even the word "libertarian" doesn't mean "classical liberal" in a lot of modern usage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19384577.post-89981087143507638392008-03-21T02:45:00.000+02:002008-03-21T02:45:00.000+02:00They're not sniping at you. Remember, in U.S. Pol...They're not sniping at you. Remember, in U.S. Politics a "Liberal" is a Socialist/Communist. In U.S. politics, a classical liberal -- which you are -- would be called a "libertarian." (most of the time)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com