"people may legitimately be forced into interaction" (as in colonial cash
taxes, which forced subsistence farmers into the free market economy)
"interaction should be extended territorially" (for instance by military
force against trade barriers)
"interaction should be extended by analogy", for instance from the free
market to the Internet
except in wars of extension, liberals value peace and internal stability
although liberal theory rejects a priori values, most liberals believe in
the ultimate value of human happiness - if necessary, overriding other moral
values.
EFFECTS OF INTERACTION
The interaction in liberal structures,
such as the free market, has the following effects:
convergence towards a central or core culture: the more deviant the
product, the less chance the market will produce it. In turn, people adjust
their values to conform to what is available, and so the process intensifies.
A classic example is the erosion of rail transport since 1950. Now, many
people choose to live in areas which can not be served economically by rail
transport.
in free markets there is a general conservative effect due to the inertia
of multiple decision making. (In wartime, even free market economies become
command economies, for rapid decision making).
liberal structures block and filter innovations, which are almost always
deviant from national values (the core culture)
in liberal structures it is almost impossible to abolish or destroy
anything old. In a free market, for example, it is difficult to abolish art,
or demolish all religious buildings.
the flexibility of market organisations erodes the ability to pursue a
goal. Private passenger railways, in free market economies, often found it
easier to sell off their land. They started to offer road transport services
instead of rail services. In general, a business cannot pursue an ethical
goal, but will yield to market forces.
the market and similar structures can only make a collective decision: the
moral autonomy of the subject is destroyed
the market generates failure for individuals, if they have ideals, or if
their life plans do not match the collective decision of the
market.
OPPOSITION
Liberals are opposed to:
individual will - they think the collective will of the market must
prevail. (The criticism of communitarians, that "liberals are
individualistic", is absurd)
a defined goal for society, including any goal of change. However,
liberals do not see the continuation of the existing as a goal in this sense
mega-projects and utopian ideas. However, free market economies also
generate large projects, road construction programmes for instance
minor reforms, such as the abolition of the aristocracy
POST-LIBERALISM
A post-liberal world would include:
a non-liberal zone, capable of defending itself against liberal
expansionism
methods for unblocking and de-filtering, so that change can take place
acceptance that such a world would probably cause human
unhappiness.
ENDING LIBERALISM
Liberals (correctly) believe that liberalism
promotes human happiness, However, justice and innovation should take priority
over happiness. The possible should be allowed to exist outside liberalism. That
means: ending liberalism. The essence of liberalism is unfreedom: the opposite
of liberalism is escape from liberal structures. It is a fallacy, that all forms
of freedom are compatible. Freedom of innovation, especially, is incompatible
with the freedom of interaction which liberals value.