Quora: What is the difference between liberalism and capitalism?
Ideally, nothing.
Liberalism is freedom without an expectation of the two foundational behaviors for freedom:
- Self-reliance;
- Self-governance.
Ideally, (Google def) “liberalism is a modern philosophy emphasizing universal human rights, objective truth, and individualism.” But without (1) and (2) above, freedom narcissistically devolves to permit postmodernism to define the day. Yet while most free people sense the freedom -> (1)+(2) connection, it’s more than that. Behaviors (1) and (2) are a requirement, and NO definition of liberalism makes this clear.
Crucially, (1) generates problem-solving; (1) and (2) require free will (self-control). This is rationality. As a consequence, problem-solving produces excess wealth (capital), enabling capitalism. Furthermore, self-governance creates the trust necessary to sustain it. This, therefore, is the indivisible relationship between ideal-liberalism and capitalism.
However, GOOGLE – Postmodernism is a skeptical movement that critiques these “meta-narratives”, arguing that truth, reason, and morality are subjective social constructs tied to power dynamics rather than absolute realities.
So, unfortunately, postmodernism makes (1) and (2) inconceivable to those who endorse it. Liberalism-enabled-postmodernism, therefore, leads to metastasizing societal narcissism and entitlement (dependency) — self-reliance and self-governance are lost.
In short, an incompletely defined liberalism (sans responsibilities) inadvertently opens the door to postmodernism and the inescapable collapse of problem-solving (capitalism). However, in an ideal (rational) world, capitalism and liberalism are one and the same.
Sadly, wealth creates entitlement and the collapse of reason. A loss of freedom (liberalism) always follows.
