At this moment of inception, of course, the potential menace of individual rapacity and anarchy alien concepts, other than theoretically -- were hardly considered. – irrelevant political restraints from economic activity,” it was assumed, “[R]emove “and the system of liberty’ will become effective…. [with] the self-interest of each … ‘natural individual checked and balanced by that of every other individual, and, should that fail, an self-interest which knows how to find the point of concurrence between ‘enlightened’ the interests of self and those of the community will supply the deficiency.” … Bourgeois liberalism’s confidence in the possibilities of social harmony” was “serene derived both from the genuine achievements of a commercial culture -- that men could be brought most effectively into the vast system of mutual services in a complex society by engaging their rather than their -- and from the illusions ‘self-interest’ ‘benevolence’” natural to that culture. This new liberalism, however, a natural equilibrium of economic “assume[d] power in the community which historic facts refute.” Over time, realities would “social develop which were not anticipated by the creed. The strong would and did take advantage of the weak.” Given the liberal order’s ideological underpinnings, they would demands upon the community which seemed reasonable to the claimant and “make inordinate from the standpoint of the community.” Market” Industrial Capitalism in the Nineteenth Century U.S. “Free Like feudalism before it, bourgeois liberalism lent itself to unique aggrandizements of power. In nineteenth century England and the U.S., the commercial classes converted the precepts of an anti-hierarchical (liberating) liberalism into a set of
At this moment of inception, of course, the potential menace of individual rapacity and anarchy – alien concepts, other than theoretically -- were hardly considered. “[R]emove irrelevant political restraints from economic activity,” it was assumed, “and … the ‘natural system of liberty’ will become effective…. [with] the self-interest of each individual checked and balanced by that of every other individual, and, should that fail, an ‘enlightened’ self-interest which knows how to find the point of concurrence between the interests of self and those of the community will … supply the deficiency.” Bourgeois liberalism’s “serene confidence in the possibilities of social harmony” was derived both from the genuine achievements of a commercial culture -- that men could be brought most effectively into the vast system of mutual services in a complex society by engaging their ‘self-interest’ rather than their ‘benevolence’” -- and from the illusions natural to that culture. This new liberalism, however, “assume[d] a natural equilibrium of economic power in the community which historic facts refute.” Over time, “social realities would develop which were not anticipated by the creed. The strong would and did take advantage of the weak.” Given the liberal order’s ideological underpinnings, they would “make demands upon the community which seemed reasonable to the claimant and inordinate from the standpoint of the community.” “Free Market” Industrial Capitalism in the Nineteenth Century U.S. Like feudalism before it, bourgeois liberalism lent itself to unique aggrandizements of power. In nineteenth century England and the U.S., the commercial classes converted the precepts of an anti-hierarchical (liberating) liberalism into a set of
WPSASanDiegoKerschpaper022516.docx