The Evils of Absolute Power
The above statement was written by a liberal called Lord Acton, he is
what is commonly called a classical liberal. Classical liberalism was
pre-Twentieth century liberalism, before it was revised because of the
progress in industrialisation. However, the consistent central theme
of liberalism in both forms (classical and modern) is individualism.
Classical liberals see humans as being selfish and egoistical beings,
as opposed to the modern liberal thought that humans are altruistic.
Therefore modern liberals have a much more optimistic view of human
beings compared to that of classical liberals.
As I have stated above Lord Acton as a classical liberal believed
humans to be egoistical, and as such thought that if beings got in to
a position of power and authority then the government would be
tyrannical. A tyrannical government is one that rules above the law,
for example Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. Liberals thought that
to prevent tyranny a sovereign state needs to be in place, which would
limit the government’s power. Power would be limited by internal and
external constraints, for example constitutionalism which would mean
that the population would know the extent of the government’s power.
Liberals therefore wanted to prevent tyranny from occurring, but
classical and modern liberals had differing ideas on how this could be
done. Classical liberals, such as Acton, did not believe in democracy
because the majority could crush individual liberty and minority
rights, ...
... middle of paper ...
...wer. Then this in turn would lead to
tyrannical governments such as those of; Hussein, Mugabe and Stalin.
The implications of liberals believing in this statement are that they
believe that rational individuals should want to sign up to a social
contract to establish a sovereign government. Individuals would want
to do this because life before government was endless civil war, with
life being; solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Life would be
this way because individuals are selfish, greedy and power seeking.
Therefore rational beings would enter into a social contract and
sacrifice a portion of their liberty to set up a system of law; this
would prevent the otherwise inevitable: property and lives being under
constant threat. Seventeenth century writer John Locke said “Where
there is no law there is no freedom.”
The above statement was written by a liberal called Lord Acton, he is
what is commonly called a classical liberal. Classical liberalism was
pre-Twentieth century liberalism, before it was revised because of the
progress in industrialisation. However, the consistent central theme
of liberalism in both forms (classical and modern) is individualism.
Classical liberals see humans as being selfish and egoistical beings,
as opposed to the modern liberal thought that humans are altruistic.
Therefore modern liberals have a much more optimistic view of human
beings compared to that of classical liberals.
As I have stated above Lord Acton as a classical liberal believed
humans to be egoistical, and as such thought that if beings got in to
a position of power and authority then the government would be
tyrannical. A tyrannical government is one that rules above the law,
for example Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. Liberals thought that
to prevent tyranny a sovereign state needs to be in place, which would
limit the government’s power. Power would be limited by internal and
external constraints, for example constitutionalism which would mean
that the population would know the extent of the government’s power.
Liberals therefore wanted to prevent tyranny from occurring, but
classical and modern liberals had differing ideas on how this could be
done. Classical liberals, such as Acton, did not believe in democracy
because the majority could crush individual liberty and minority
rights, ...
... middle of paper ...
...wer. Then this in turn would lead to
tyrannical governments such as those of; Hussein, Mugabe and Stalin.
The implications of liberals believing in this statement are that they
believe that rational individuals should want to sign up to a social
contract to establish a sovereign government. Individuals would want
to do this because life before government was endless civil war, with
life being; solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. Life would be
this way because individuals are selfish, greedy and power seeking.
Therefore rational beings would enter into a social contract and
sacrifice a portion of their liberty to set up a system of law; this
would prevent the otherwise inevitable: property and lives being under
constant threat. Seventeenth century writer John Locke said “Where
there is no law there is no freedom.”