Can classical liberalism return?
The decline of American liberalism is not irreversible, nor does it negate liberalism s world-historic achievement of bringing freedom, dignity, and opportunity to so many. Arthur Ekirch concludes his book with words of solace and hope: So long as honest history is written a by no means certain circumstance in a totalitarian world liberals will at least be able to look back with some satisfaction into the distant past, while they do their best to challenge the fate held out by an increasingly illiberal future. Synopsis When the Declaration of Independence spoke of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the Founders understood these as natural rights and saw their protection as the purpose of government. Within two centuries, however, the political philosophy that guided them classical liberalism had long been passé in intellectual circles, and individual liberty was in retreat from the onslaught of the welfare-warfare state. Even the term liberalism no longer meant w
