Liberalism Between the Terror of Freedom and the Terror of Equality

Autor analizira ambivalentnosti liberalizma glede političkih i ekonomskih sloboda. Dok su klasični liberali zastupali slobodu pojedinca nasuprot aristokratskoj državi, moderni se liberali zalažu za kontroliranu vladavinu većine putem države i prava. Kako je njihova prvotna ideja o slobodi privatnog vlasništva u praksi bila temelj za stvaranje neograničenog bogatstva, oni teže njenoj korekciji ograničavanjem vlasništva od strane države, što bi prema njihovom mišljenju dovelo do srednjeg oblika vlasništva. Međutim, zalaganje za srednje vlasništvo i srednju državu ne daje dostatni izborni uspjeh, pa se liberali priklanjaju konzervativnoj ideji zaštite općeg dobra od furije privatnih interesa. Današnja marginalizacija liberalnih stranaka ne ometa prodor liberalnih ideja u sve demokratske stranke. Liberalizam je otud sve više kulturna tekovina, a sve manje realna politička opcija.The author analyses the ambivalence of liberalism regarding political and economic freedoms. While classical liberals advocated individual freedom versus aristocratic state, modern liberals advocate the controlled rule of the majority by the means of the state and the law. Since their original idea of the freedom of private ownership led to the creation of boundless wealth, they have sought ways of limiting state ownership and establishing an intermediate category of ownership. However, the advocacy of intermediate ownership and the intermediate state does not suffice for a success at the polls, so liberals have adopted the conservatice concept of the protection of public good from the fury of private interests. Today\u27s marginalization of liberal parties has not prevented liberal ideas to penetrate into the programmes of all democratic parties. Hence, liberalism has become more of a cultural achievement and less a viable political option