2008-11-15

"We're Tired Of Radicalism"

'A Fighting Faith' is an article from The Liberal exploring, in addition to seeking out a new liberalism, Iran's intellectual acceptance of liberalism.

It positions liberalism as a radical, anti-establishment-challenging-authority world view and rejects the hard left turn it has taken in the Western world. In doing so, it attempts to reignite liberalism liberal internationalism to be exact. It does this primarily by viewing liberalism through the lenses of Iran. In doing so, we can be reminded of what liberalism used to mean.

It laments the hard left turn liberalism has taken. Naturally, with the alleged collapse of "deregulated" capitalism the "I told you so's" flapping from socialist and Marxist corners have boldly grown. They have been mobilizing and calling the shots in the name of "liberalism." There's a fine line (but distinct difference) between liberalism, socialism, Marxism and communism.

I call the push by the far left a dead-cat bounce and so does Iran. It has no interest in such tomfoolery.

The piece puts into perspective that liberalism maintains a legitimate pulse despite it being hijacked by posers in the West. We just need to find it.

Last, the piece makes a brief mention of Piero Gobetti the young Italian liberal journalist who died at the age of 25.

Professor James Martin describes Gobetti in the following passage:

"Gobetti stands out as an early defender of a progressive liberal realism. As such, his thought bears comparison with other European thinkers of the interwar period, such as Carl Schmitt, who were similarly inspired to uphold the centrality of politics by substituting liberal consensus with a conflict-based outlook. Unlike other thinkers, however, Gobetti aimed to make liberalism itself a theory of conflict in order to revive its prospects in the face of fascist reaction."

Sounds very much like what the Iranian revolutionary visionaries are fighting for in their country doesn't it?

2 comments:

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  2. Vig, I have no idea how your comment got deleted.

    Sorry.

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