When Don Boudreaux is "on," not many can match him. His post today on the cosmopolitan and tolerant values of true/classical liberalism is not only dead spot on, it is beautifully written. It is one of the finest statements of liberal values I've read in a long time. I'll give you an excerpt below, but you really need to read the whole thing.
Liberalism recognizes that people are part of families and friendships and a variety of different kinds of associations. Liberals encourage, or at least tolerate, any and all forms of voluntary associations, from marital ones to religious ones to trading ones. Liberals reject the romantic nonsense that demands that each person "love" or "care for" everyone in the same way that that person loves and cares for himself, his family, and his friends.
But liberalism rejects the notion that there is anything much special or compelling about political relationships. It is tribalistic, atavistic, to regard those who look more like you to be more worthy of your regard than are those who look less like you. It is tribalistic, atavistic, to regard those who speak your native tongue to be more worthy of your affection and concern than are those whose native tongues differ from yours.
For the true liberal, the human race is the human race. The struggle is to cast off as much as possible primitive sentiments about "us" being different from "them."
Outstanding Don. --Steve Horwitz
