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Liberals have always opposed excessive concentrations of power either in the hands of big government or excessive concentrations of corporate power. Both kinds of excessive concentrations of power threaten personal liberty. In America, it was Theodore Roosevelt who proclaimed that the people's government was the only instrument that could counter the excessive power of enormous corporations. That was also behind the reforms of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. It's still true; only the federal government can counter the power of gigantic oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, too-big-to-fail banks. Liberals have opposed too great power in the hands of government (communism) or too great power in the hands of corporations (plutocracy). And we have seen the perils of fascism and naziism when government joins hands with corporations, rather than regulating them in the public interest. Let's not let our opponents misrepresent liberalism. BackCommentsAdd Comment |
In recent political rhetoric, a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives has been lost. We hear a lot of noise about how "government is too big," "big government has gotten out of hand."