It is time to bother thinking about the tricky terms ‘liberal values’ and ‘liberalism’. ‘Liberal values’ is what unites us in Western democracies; it means a broad, vague belief in equality, human rights, the rule of law. Liberalism, on the other hand, is a political and cultural agenda. It claims to express liberal values in terms of a concrete political programme.
Or let’s put it this way. There is a ‘basic liberalism’ that unites us (or almost all of us). It says that all human lives matter, that racism is bad, that people should be free to choose how to live, and so on. And there is a ‘sharp liberalism’ that divides us. It says that certain particular policies are needed, if liberal values are to prevail. It’s not enough to say racism is bad: this policy must help to eliminate it.
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