Thursday, September 29, 2016
The Liberal Manifesto
Paraphrased from "The Liberal
Mind"--Lyle H. Rossiter, MD[1]
1. We are
all children of a parental government...
2.
Self-reliance and the role of individual responsibility should be
diminished in
this society in favor of collective caretaking
administered by the state.
3. The
individual cannot exist without the state.
4. Because
most citizens are not competent to run their own lives,
they need government
guidance to do what is good for them.
5.
Collectivism is the proper political philosophy for an ordered
society.
6. A good
life is a government entitlement owed to each citizen
regardless of the nature
and quality of his acts and their usefulness
to others.
7. In
respect to economic and social situations, prior binding
contracts or
agreements based on tradition may be invalidated by
the authority of the
government.
8. A large
government regulatory apparatus is needed to exercise
control over the
citizenry and to ensure that social justice is
assured.
9. Massive
welfare programs that are administered by the state at
taxpayer expense are
necessary to meet the needs of the
disadvantaged.
10. Men
should not be held responsible for their bad actions, but
rather such actions
should be viewed as the collective fault of the
society.
11. Traditional
ideas about the separateness and sovereignty of the
individual are invalid.
12. Material
subsidies are to be paid to persons designated by the
state based on need,
suffering, or inequality, not on merit or desert.
13. Human
nature is highly malleable.
14. Descriptions
of how to act and how not to act should not be
based on the distilled ethical
and moral wisdom of the centuries,
but through canons of political correctness
or evolved through the
creation of alternative lifestyles in a spirit of
cultural correctness.
15. Established
traditions of decency, courtesy, and sexual
repression are unduly restrictive
and should be rejected because
they support class distinctions that oppose the
liberal ideal of social
equality. Pornography is good.
16. Rules
governing human interactions that have evolved over
centuries deserve no
respect. Traditional Judeo-Christian moral and
ethical codes such as the Golden
Rule must be rewritten to reflect
modern ideals of moral relativity and
multicultural correctness.
17. Equality
before the law is a fiction.
18. An
individual who commits a bad act should not be held
personally responsible for
what he does even if he does it with
malicious intent.
19. US
foreign policy makers should assume the American
imperialism and capitalist
exploitation have been major factors in
provoking aggressive acts by other
nations and by religious or
ethnic groups.
20. It is
the duty of the state to determine which groups or classes
of persons suffer
from deficits in material security and in social and
political status and to
cure these deficits through government
action.
21.
Time-honored conceptions of justice as reflected in common
sense, ethical
philosophy, judicial practice and the history of
political thought are invalid.
22.
Traditional ideal of self-determination, self-responsibility and
self-reliance
are invalid.
23. Economic
activity should be carefully controlled by the
government.
24. An adult
citizen's time, work effort and ability must be largely
apportioned to the
state.
25. The
primary purpose of politics is the creation of an ideal
collective society
run by a liberal elite[2] committed to a just
redistribution of
economic, social and political goods.
26. The
traditional social institutions of marriage and family are not
very important
and should yield to progressive alternative lifestyles
that emphasize the
satisfaction of sexual and relational needs.
[1]
Rossiter expounds on these condensed statements substantially in his book, and
derives the why of them through analysis from a life cycle psychological
viewpoint.
[2]
Liberals classify citizens as: governing elites; military personnel; and the
rest of us.
Paraphrased from "The Liberal
Mind"--Lyle H. Rossiter, MD[1]
1. We are
all children of a parental government...
2.
Self-reliance and the role of individual responsibility should be
diminished in this society in favor of collective caretaking
administered by the state.
diminished in this society in favor of collective caretaking
administered by the state.
3. The
individual cannot exist without the state.
4. Because
most citizens are not competent to run their own lives,
they need government guidance to do what is good for them.
they need government guidance to do what is good for them.
5.
Collectivism is the proper political philosophy for an ordered
society.
society.
6. A good
life is a government entitlement owed to each citizen
regardless of the nature and quality of his acts and their usefulness
to others.
regardless of the nature and quality of his acts and their usefulness
to others.
7. In
respect to economic and social situations, prior binding
contracts or agreements based on tradition may be invalidated by
the authority of the government.
contracts or agreements based on tradition may be invalidated by
the authority of the government.
8. A large
government regulatory apparatus is needed to exercise
control over the citizenry and to ensure that social justice is
assured.
control over the citizenry and to ensure that social justice is
assured.
9. Massive
welfare programs that are administered by the state at
taxpayer expense are necessary to meet the needs of the
disadvantaged.
taxpayer expense are necessary to meet the needs of the
disadvantaged.
10. Men
should not be held responsible for their bad actions, but
rather such actions should be viewed as the collective fault of the
society.
rather such actions should be viewed as the collective fault of the
society.
11. Traditional
ideas about the separateness and sovereignty of the
individual are invalid.
individual are invalid.
12. Material
subsidies are to be paid to persons designated by the
state based on need, suffering, or inequality, not on merit or desert.
state based on need, suffering, or inequality, not on merit or desert.
13. Human
nature is highly malleable.
14. Descriptions
of how to act and how not to act should not be
based on the distilled ethical and moral wisdom of the centuries,
but through canons of political correctness or evolved through the
creation of alternative lifestyles in a spirit of cultural correctness.
based on the distilled ethical and moral wisdom of the centuries,
but through canons of political correctness or evolved through the
creation of alternative lifestyles in a spirit of cultural correctness.
15. Established
traditions of decency, courtesy, and sexual
repression are unduly restrictive and should be rejected because
they support class distinctions that oppose the liberal ideal of social
equality. Pornography is good.
repression are unduly restrictive and should be rejected because
they support class distinctions that oppose the liberal ideal of social
equality. Pornography is good.
16. Rules
governing human interactions that have evolved over
centuries deserve no respect. Traditional Judeo-Christian moral and
ethical codes such as the Golden Rule must be rewritten to reflect
modern ideals of moral relativity and multicultural correctness.
centuries deserve no respect. Traditional Judeo-Christian moral and
ethical codes such as the Golden Rule must be rewritten to reflect
modern ideals of moral relativity and multicultural correctness.
17. Equality
before the law is a fiction.
18. An
individual who commits a bad act should not be held
personally responsible for what he does even if he does it with
malicious intent.
personally responsible for what he does even if he does it with
malicious intent.
19. US
foreign policy makers should assume the American
imperialism and capitalist exploitation have been major factors in
provoking aggressive acts by other nations and by religious or
ethnic groups.
imperialism and capitalist exploitation have been major factors in
provoking aggressive acts by other nations and by religious or
ethnic groups.
20. It is
the duty of the state to determine which groups or classes
of persons suffer from deficits in material security and in social and
political status and to cure these deficits through government
action.
of persons suffer from deficits in material security and in social and
political status and to cure these deficits through government
action.
21.
Time-honored conceptions of justice as reflected in common
sense, ethical philosophy, judicial practice and the history of
political thought are invalid.
sense, ethical philosophy, judicial practice and the history of
political thought are invalid.
22.
Traditional ideal of self-determination, self-responsibility and
self-reliance are invalid.
self-reliance are invalid.
23. Economic
activity should be carefully controlled by the
government.
government.
24. An adult
citizen's time, work effort and ability must be largely
apportioned to the state.
apportioned to the state.
25. The
primary purpose of politics is the creation of an ideal
collective society run by a liberal elite[2] committed to a just
redistribution of economic, social and political goods.
collective society run by a liberal elite[2] committed to a just
redistribution of economic, social and political goods.
26. The
traditional social institutions of marriage and family are not
very important and should yield to progressive alternative lifestyles
that emphasize the satisfaction of sexual and relational needs.
very important and should yield to progressive alternative lifestyles
that emphasize the satisfaction of sexual and relational needs.
[1]
Rossiter expounds on these condensed statements substantially in his book, and
derives the why of them through analysis from a life cycle psychological
viewpoint.
[2]
Liberals classify citizens as: governing elites; military personnel; and the
rest of us.
