Modern Liberals Are Welfare-State Liberals and Are Motivated by an Over-Arching Commitment to an Ideal of Equality Alien to and Incompatible with Classical Liberalism

Although by no means classical liberals, the overwhelming majority of present-day intellectuals in the Western democracies would consider themselves liberal on issues other than those connected with equality, such as personal morality and life-style. Indeed, the term 'liberal' has now come to stand in some of these countries, notably, the USA, for someone who supports egalitarian policies. The classical liberal view has come to be called 'conservative'. In order to keep clear the difference between the two outlooks, and not to award the term exclusively to either position, I have chosen to refer to the two positions by the expressions classical and modern liberalism. The purpose of this chapter is to decide between these two kinds of liberalism. Since they are largely agreed on matters connected with civil liberty, I shall focus on their major point of disagreement, namely, the equity and effectiveness of egalitarian public policy.

Modern liberals are welfare-state liberals. They also tend to be in favour of equal opportunities legislation in all its various forms. Some go further by favouring affirmative action and reverse discrimination in education and employment. These involve giving preferential treatment to members of previously disadvantaged minorities so as to improve their life-prospects. In all this, modern liberals are motivated by an over-arching commitment to an ideal of equality alien to and incompatible with classical liberalism. This is not to say that classical liberals have no place or regard for equality. This is far from so. But equality, for classical liberals, means primarily 'equality before the law'. By this term, classical liberals understand that the law recognize each member of society as enjoying an equal standing, and hence an equal right to life, to liberty and to acquire and enjoy secure possession of property.

--David Conway, Classical Liberalism: The Unvanquished Ideal (Houndmills, UK: Macmillan Press, 1995), 26.