Liberalism is one of the most confusing and misunderstood words in politics. It not only has multiple definitions, but the existing definitions have changed over time. What a mess!
Why should anyone care about these definitions? Anyone who talks about politics should understand the use of common political words so they can correctly represent their own beliefs and understand the beliefs of others.
The journey of the word liberal began during the Enlightenment (1685-1800), an intellectual and cultural movement that swept through Europe and brought together man's beliefs about God, reason, nature, and humanity. For the first time in human history, individuals gained the right to liberty, government by consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law.
These new rights led to the emergence of political parties, politicians, and elections. Capitalist theory encouraged people to act on their rights as individuals: start a business or work for a company of their choosing at a wage that compensated them based on their talent.
The term for this new political world was Liberalism. Liberal meant a change from tradition: a change from the monarchies and the old ways of government. Liberal meant flexible and open, giving people the opportunity to gain more control over their lives. Its opposite was Conservatism, which stood for keeping the old ways.
In Britain, the Tory Party (later the Conservative Party) became the representative of conservatives, and the Whig Party (later the Liberal Party) represented the liberals. In America, at the beginning, there were no liberal or conservative factions. The Federalists under Hamilton supported a strong central government, and the Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson supported strong states and a weak federal government.

The Next stop for the word Liberalism was the New Deal period when President Roosevelt was constructing the welfare state. His version was called New Deal Liberalism, referring to the expansion of the federal government through the creation of social programs.
In order to avoid the confusion created by Roosevelt, the definition of Enlightenment Liberalism was changed to Classic Liberalism because it did not advocate for big government. Classic Liberalism envisioned a small federal government, which allowed capitalism to function freely.
The third use of Liberalism is the political term Libertarianism. Although the ideology of Libertarianism has changed since its introduction in the mid-1800s, it remains a variation of Classic Liberalism. Libertarians believe in small government and widely available freedom for the public. When the Democrats adopted Liberalism as a part of their New Deal philosophy, Americans who had previously used the term Classic Liberalism replaced it with Libertarianism.
Democrats' use of the term Liberalism ended in the 1970s because of their failed welfare state programs. Liberalism had become associated with inefficiency and waste. To replace it, they began to embrace the term "progressive," representing their continuing efforts to expand government.
Now we arrive at Neoliberalism, a second return to Enlightenment Liberalism. It emerged in the early 1970s in response to continuing attacks on capitalism by the left. The word was first mentioned in a memo written by Lewis Powell to the US Chamber of Commerce in 1971. Powell was being considered for justice on the Supreme Court at the time, and he used the document as a call to arms for the American business community to fight back against its critics. Neoliberals criticized the leftward trend of American academia and its support of a welfare state, suggesting the appropriate response was to create an opposing force consisting of private research institutions that would stand for the value of business.
Powell's memo increased conservative think tank activity through organizations such as the Cato Institute and The Heritage Foundation. These organizations began to support a neoliberal ideology, calling on all segments of society to defend capitalism. In performing its role, the government should not interfere with business but support its operation. The government should not create welfare state programs that create inefficiency in the economy. The government should support globalization, which would expand American business interests worldwide.
Initially, Neoliberalism showed itself in the policies of President Carter, who deregulated the airlines in 1978. He also named Paul Volker, an acknowledged neoliberal, as chairman of the Federal Reserve. President Reagan also pursued neoliberal policies, including tax cuts and financial deregulation. Obama placed former Clinton neoliberals in his administration to carry forward the ideological narrative.
While the Republicans embrace the features of Neoliberalism that favor domestic business, the Democrats have more strongly embraced it as a global philosophy. Big Tech, from its base in Silicon Valley, is now its strongest advocate. This change in direction emanates from a new type of Democrat: a highly educated voter working in a profession that requires an advanced degree. Over the past four decades, the conversion of professionals (known as "the knowledge class") to the Democratic Party has helped compensate, in numbers, for the defection of skilled and semi-skilled lower-income white workers to the Republican Party.
Silicon Valley liberals sit to the left of moderate liberals, and they are more politically active. They support globalism, multiculturalism, the environment, a single-payer healthcare system, open borders, jobs, and benefits for illegal aliens. They strongly reject conservative ideas as out of date, including the traditional family, religion, and patriotism. They are constantly pushing the Democratic Party to the left, expressing their impatience to achieve a transformative society.
Neoliberalism has come under criticism in recent years for the damage it has done to the American middle class. Globalism advocated by neoliberals disengages capital from people, promoting the movement of business capital to places where labor costs are the lowest. That strategy has led to a loss of jobs in the United States. In addition, globalism supports unlimited immigration as a source of inexpensive labor. In the case of the United States, illegal immigrants and lower-cost VISA workers are allowed to enter the country, even if they take jobs away from American citizens and legal immigrants. They are also receiving benefits that are unavailable to most Americans. Many displaced American workers became Trump supporters because they felt abandoned by the Democratic Party. The middle-class Mid-western swing states carried Trump over the finish line in 2016 and 2024.
There are also concerns about the dominance of neoliberal ideas across the globe. Organizations like the World Bank and The World Economic Forum operate outside the control of any nation, and they are not accountable to any electorate. There are thousands of similar organizations globally called non-government organizations (NGOs) that act as lobbyists, legal counsel, and business advocates for global corporations. Without public input, these organizations have no constraints on their activities.
The public concerns that elected Trump and others in Europe are a direct reaction against globalism and neoliberal ideas. While the left ridicules this reaction as a move toward authoritarianism, it actually represents a public desire to bring business activities under the control of national legal systems, where they can be held accountable. All Americans should be concerned about the future path of the globalist ideology. Multi-national corporations will stay on course unless electorates use their power to control them.
Back home, we see the evidence of the damage neoliberalism has done all around us. Its philosophy of running all institutions like corporations often fails, particularly in the non-profit arena where common corporate strategies cannot be applied.
Look at our higher education system, where universities have become revenue-generating institutions rather than organizations dedicated to the ideals they were founded on. They advertise student activities and top-notch facilities like they are hotels. They are employing an indoctrination system based on neoliberal principles. No other ideologies are presented. Alternate points of view are censored.
Only 49% of undergraduate students graduate in four years, even with watered-down grading systems. The extra years waste the student's time and increase their student loan liability. The universities don't really care about student welfare because they are only interested in the revenue. There is the administrative bloat as the universities build bureaucracies that can't be controlled. In 2021, the University of Michigan employed 121 DEI staff at a cost of $ 15 million. Senior administrators at universities make CEO wages; for example, the president of Yale makes $ 2.3 million per year.
The important difference between the corporate world and higher education is that when corporations lose money, they cut costs to get back to profitability. In higher education, when expenses exceed revenue, the only recourse is to raise tuition and whatever additional fees they can get away with.
Of all the Liberialisms, "Neo" is the most pervasive and dangerous. The logical endpoint of its effort is corporate control and a "1984" world.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.