I was looking at the Wikipedia article on modern American Liberalism, and thought these 2 definitions were interesting (1st one is from JFK).


John F. Kennedy defined liberalism this way:

"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I'm proud to say I'm a 'Liberal.'[3



Princeton Sociologist Paul Starr described it by saying,[2]

"Liberalism wagers that a state... can be strong but constrained – strong because constrained... Rights to education and other requirements for human development and security aim to advance equal opportunity and personal dignity and to promote a creative and productive society. To guarantee those rights, liberals have supported a wider social and economic role for the state, counterbalanced by more robust guarantees of civil liberties and a wider social system of checks and balances anchored in an independent press and pluralistic society."



I looked up the article on Ron Reagan, and he's a liberal which is pretty interesting- said Bush has no right to speak for his father-- that although some of Bush's policies are extensions of 80's policies, they were in completely different spirit than Bush's policy. The article on him is pretty interesting.