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.LIBERALISM TRUE AND FALSE* E. J. URWICK T HE voice ,of true liberalisrn is seldom heard iO n the land. Perhaps it is drowned by the shouting of a political liberalism which has seized upon the least attractive dogmas of the liberal creed-economic laissez-faire and freedom for commercial' enterprise-a~d converted these into instruments for the protection 0.£ existing privileges and power. We may therefore 'be grateful to Mr. Walter Lippmann for bringing us back to a consideration of deeper principles and for presenting ~ picture of philosophic liberalism as a complete and consistent scheme of social values. Mr. Lippmann's plea for liberalism, by which h~ means real liberty in a really democratic state, is presented with all the persuasiveness of which he is an acknowledged master. His analysis is always .pertinent and acute; his criticisms are often profound; and his presentation of his theme is a worthy result o(the thirty years' thought he has devoted to his subject. If in the ~nal result he leaves us unconvinced, that must not be allowed to detract from the value of his book as a timely and important contribution to political thought. His treatment falls into three divisions, critical, con-, strl::lctive, and ideal. In the first part,. the force-systems of Fascism, Communism, and Socialism are very faithfully dealt with. But the weight of the criticism depends upon some fundamental objections to any form of social planning, which Mr. Lippmann presents by way of an introduction. The impossibility ,of intelligent planning and direction of the whole activity of an infinitely "The Good Society, by Walter Lippmann, Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 1937. 289 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY complex society needs no proof. "There is no possibility that men can understand the whole process of the social , existence. We shall need a higher logic than is yet in sight.'" "The belief that any rulers can' be fully responsible for a whole society 5s a silly and sinister superstition ." If such rulers are allowed to exist, not progress but mere stability will be their aim. .There is no progress which is not accompanied by emancipation from authority , monopoly, and special privilege. There ,can be no. progress except by increased freedom to think, 'to argue, to make mistakes, to be ' adventurous and enterprising. We "should never have become victims of the delusion ofa planned economy but for two unfortunate facts: first, the quite recent exaltation of Science as the only human enterprise which all men look upon as successful; and secondly, the belief that in, governments alone is there adequate power to utilize Science. The result is ,that to-day from the marriage of Science with Force a new god is born-the providential state. If we' grant these, premises, there is no need to emphasize the objections to Fascism or any form of oligarchy. But the objection may have less force in regard to Communism if-though only if-the authority in a Communist state confined itself to directing the economic activities of the people, and if the people agreed to consider economic activities and their results as matters of secondary importance in relation to the good life. That is to say, if wealth were put in its proper place, a rather lowly place) in the scale of vital values. But Mr. Lippmann provides for this loophole by pointing out that Communism abolishes private property in wealth only to create a new form of property in power, and the public offices which embody power. So the Communist state is doomed to an even more intense property struggle than the democratic state. 290 LIBERALISM TRUE AND FALSE The incompatibility of planning with· democracy is, of course, obvious. If it is to. be anything but ludicrous, planning must be continuous and complete. Spasmodic planning by short-lived democratic governments is worse than no plan at all. In fact) a planned economy pre;supposes a benevolent despotism-and can never get it. And-the conclusion of the whole matter is that.a "directed society must be bellicose and poor; a progressive and peaceful society must be free." But, through the faults of liberals themselves, exist-ing democracies offer us a poor...

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