The Liberal Tradition in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Liberal Tradition in America - Essay Example The Liberal Tradition in America (p. 20). America did not have a "genuine revolutionary tradition" and a "tradition of reaction† and had only â€Å"a kind of self-completing mechanism, which insures the universality of the liberal idea†. In order for American to hold this broad liberal tradition, Hartz said that, we must look for comparisons between America and Europe so that we can see the absence of conservatism and socialism and the presence of "moral unanimity" forced by "this fixed, dogmatic liberalism of a liberal way of life." Louis Hartz. The Liberal Tradition in America (pp. 5-6). In addition, presence of red scares is shown by the â€Å"deep and unwritten tyrannical compulsion" of American liberalism "transforms eccentricity into sin†, according to Louis Hartz. The Liberal Tradition in America (pp. 9-12). In conclusion, "the master assumption of American political thought" is "the reality of atomistic social freedom. It is instinctive in the American min d." Hartz the Liberal Tradition in America (p. 62).He also said that Americans’ had mutual commitment to "Lockian" liberalism. These enable them to keep away from upheavals at a price of enforcing agreement. Louis used â€Å"Locke† to mean self-interested, behaviors of liberal capitalism and profit-maximizing values. This opposed the revolutionary democratic dedication of Marxian socialist and Jacobins. Moreover, it was against the traditional morals of church elites and aristocrats of the ancient regime in Europe. Regrettably, Hartz never stop to explain what he knew about feudalism or liberalism or what he meant by Locke, therefore, the meaning of his words remain unclear, and his claims are uncertain. However, he focused on issues that played a vital role in religion, democracy, race, gender, and ethnicity in American history. (Hartz 1948) A social theory that talks about a particular economic system or political system as a fair system is a consensus theory. It con tracts with conflict theory, which says that any social change is achieved through conflict. Hartz is as a consensus theorist, for a simple reason: First, Hartz came up with the most daring and a theory complete argument for a consensus in any political tradition. In his book The Liberal Tradition in America, first, Harzt compares Europe and United States to justify much of harmony portrait of America. He is preoccupied with socialism through his work. He said that the French and American had very different revolutions .in France, there was a hugely complex social system, divided by internal separations caused by growing middle class challenging the lost of agrarian , feudal system. Kings were using bureaucrats to control the authority of nobles; therefore, monarchs became unfriendly to "the very system of society of which they were the traditional apex†, according to Harzt book The Liberal Tradition in America. In addition, in England like in France, there were independent ar tisans who were undermined by the spread of merchant capitalism. This lessened nobility in England because British aristocracy had the ability to take the wealthy bourgeoisie. However, America lacked a feudal heritage, as in the case of France and Britain. There was no aristocracy between the merchants, and nobody objected creation of permanent laborers. As a result, the American scene did not have the hostility marked by French and English. Relationship between consensus theory and â€Å"