Introduction
How did the market turn into a competitor for different classes of society, or even into a trespasser after it was designed to serve him?
The answer lies in studying the historical origins of liberalism and the transformations it has undergone, then identifying and treating the symptoms.
redirectedFrom=fulltext) appeared on the European continent as a political trend in the early nineteenth century, specifically at the hands of a group in Britain called the Whigs, which demanded two things: freedom of thought and tolerance.
Historically, liberalism appeared on the European continent as a political trend in the early nineteenth century, specifically at the hands of a group in Britain called the Whigs, which demanded two things: freedom of thought and tolerance.
This group believed that in order for society to develop and protect itself from conflict, it must be recognized that none of its individuals or groups possess the answer to this question:
What is the best system of life?
This question in itself represented a challenge to religious authority, because it is the one that determines the best life, and whoever objects to it will be punished.
Therefore, liberalism responded by introducing two important principles: tolerance and rejection of social calcification.
Tolerance means acknowledging difference and not forcing your opinion on others, and this represents a veiled attack on religion and the state allied with it. Where Social calcification means that social titles are what determine your position in society and, behind that, give you economic power. If you have abundant money or real estate, it gives you a distinctive social status, and provides you with additional opportunities to increase your financial balance and fortify your social status.
This structure enabled the ruling class (the aristocracy) to bequeath their economic and social capabilities to their children in order to ensure their continuity, and to prevent outsiders from entering even if they had money, because the market is essentially drawn in a way that guarantees the ruling class that the economic competition is tilted in its favor and not towards fair competition that develops production.
This is how excellence is established…
If you are born a nobleman or a lord, you will remain that way as if you were born a worker or an employee.
The emergence of liberalism was strengthened by other factors, the most important of which were the religious wars in Europe (the Thirty Years' War) and the religious reforms that came after.
This gave the opportunity to many to read, think, and judge their own conscience independently of religious guidance.
Perhaps the reformers Luther and Calvin contributed to spreading liberalism, even if they did not want it, and that by focusing on religious conscience where the person must govern it through his understanding of religious texts. Religious wars also played a role in the establishment of the so-called “national territorial” state, which has borders and a national or religious conception.
The result of these wars and disputes was economic because trade between European princes required peace and security, and these national territorial entities provided them and ended sectarian fighting. Because of this development, it was natural for lower classes to emerge on the social ladder in the world of commerce and professions, and they accumulated important wealth, and thus they had ambitions to break the social calcification that hindered them economically.
It was prevalent at that time that the aristocratic classes enjoyed legal advantages that gave them a greater ability to socially compete with others from lower classes. Therefore, the complainants demanded the removal of these unfair economic legal privileges, and through them they wanted to overthrow the social class, and then move to sharing power and drawing up its legislation.
Conclusion
Here we find that society has changed, and therefore its ideas and systems were bound to change. Accordingly, liberalism, with its principles of tolerance and breaking social calcification, represented a valid ground for the establishment of a new, different society.
In which it became as follow
The government cannot interfere in private affairs unless a person’s practice of what happens in his private sphere threatens the system of security and peace, that is, public order. The government must be bound by a constitution whose primary goal is to protect the right to property, the right to life, and freedom.
To later secure equality, which was the key to carving out a specific role for the state in which it would be a neutral player in the economy and a positive player in society. Thus, the state moved theoretically from serving a specific religious and social class to serving society with all its classes, and it became forced to commit to personal rights and social benefits.
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