Liberal is such the word

La Liberté Eugène Delacroix, 1830

To better understand the various terms associated with liberal a bit of history helps. It is a word we all should know.

Classically the term liberal comes from the Latin "liberalis," translated to Old French, a word that eventually made its way into Middle English as Liber, a "free man." The word got associated with politics when used by "Age of Enlightenment," folks like Adam Smith, Jonh Locke and other thinkers from the British Isles. 

Those radical ideas about freedom initiated the French and American Revolutions in the late 18th century, the anti-slavery movements of the 19th century that swept the world and the American Civil War. Liberal Democracy, born through fits and starts, led the way to more universal freedoms... to women's suffrage, civil rights and all of the other 20th century social movements to follow.

Famous Great Depression Image*

Liberal democracy also laid the groundwork for capitalism and a counter-reaction to capitalism's excesses. In the US, unfettered capitalism proved unstable. Several depressions culminated with the great economic collapse of 1929.  Out of desperation, the country turned to FDR who enacted "socialist" policies to deal with the suffering of a broken economy. The great challenge to defeat the Axis powers ended with the US fully recovered.

* Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California, titles this image by Florence Owens Thompson.

The US emerged from WWII as the world's wealthiest and most powerful nation. FDR's policies would be the harbingers of a post-war strategy that tied a reimagined form of capitalism based on social democracy with the fight against Soviet communism. 

The Marshall plan promised people in the broken countries of the west, that capitalism included social and economic welfare. It is touted by historians of all stripes as the main reason why Italy, Greece and many other contries turned away from communism. Western European countries rebuilt and reconstituted themselves as social democracies. As a collection of capitalist, welfare states, first world nations reshaped governance to include not only political, but also economic and social rights.

The strategy in the US was to create a large middle class, spreading the wealth so that people would not turn to radical solutions. In the 1950s, the corporate world was on board. Both parties were on board and shared a remarkably similar agenda. The Great Society project of LBJ of the 60s, deepened the move towards social democracy and modern term "liberal" came to represent this vision.

Ronald Reagan

Not everyone was happy about this new version of "liberalism." The stagflation of the 1970s opened the way for conservatives to retake the reins. The Reagan revolution brought together a new anti-social democracy coalition that began to curb back the maligned socialist elements blamed for the bad economy. All kinds of other influences that were resisting the tide of modernity joined the conservative movement... fundamentalists, cultural conservatives, nativists, etc.

This new right-wing umbrella included many grass-roots movements, but it was coalesced by key players within corporate America. In the early 1990s, an economic wing arose within the conservate coalition that called themselves "neoliberal."  This new economic philosophy arose from a corporate, globalist vision that was energized by the collapse of the Soviet Union. It sought global integration of the economy by reinvigorating capitalism through the pursuit of deregulation and free markets across the planet.

Here is the real important point to all this. For the corporate world, the strategy of maintaining strong and healthy middle classes became moot when communism was defeated.  This, more than anything else, explains where we find ourselves today.

A new global and corporate focus was widely adopted by both Republicans and centrist Democrats and resulted in a massive shift of wealth upwards and outwards. Because the focus was global it did not always resonate well with many other aspirations within the conservative tent. Wealth moved up to the top and out to the rest of the world.  In turn, this led to the crumbling of social democracy and the middle class.

The losses for Americans created by globalization have led to a resurgence of populism and anti-establishment movements, from Occupy Wall Street to Trumpism. The term liberal has come to mean establishment Democrats who support the globalist vision. Many others on the left seek to distinguish themselves and prefer the term progressive and/or socialist.

Corporations and the capitalist order were born out of the freedoms created by classic liberalism. It was saved from collapse by 20th century efforts to share the wealth through large middle classes. Through their globalization efforts, corporations are now more powerful than ever. Because the cold war is over and  markets are now global, corporations are longer tied to the general domestic welfare of any one country. The reliance on````` both liberal and social democracy is no longer a part of the deal. The transitory "neoliberal" stage is over.

The new world is fast becoming an illiberal one. Capitalism is about growth and the most successful capitalist country in the world today according to growth is by far China. Barring some unforeseen event(s), look there to see the shape of things to come.