Make Liberalism Classical Again

Hi! Thanks for the great question. I’ve been offline for a while, so I’m not sure when you asked this. Sorry to have kept you waiting!

First, I don’t know that I would consider Ben Shapiro a classical liberal. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe he’s even expressed that he isn’t a classical liberal. Many of his political views can fall under classical liberalism, but I don’t consider him to be a classical liberal because of his collectivist conservative personal views regarding society. Someone like Dave Rubin would be a well-known modern example of a classical liberal. 

Classical liberalism has a long, rich history, but I’ll try to make my definition as short as possible. Classical liberalism came into existence during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in response to the social changes the the industrial revolution brought. People like Locke and Smith and others made the ideas of classical liberalism well known. As simply as I can put it, classical liberalism advocates for individual liberty, laissez-faire economics, protection of natural rights, and limited government. Basically, classical liberalism values the freedom of the individual above the power of a centralized authority. 

My opinion on libertarianism is pretty warm. Classical liberalism and libertarianism are very similar, their main difference being their point of origin. I do think that there’s a difference between people who call themselves classical liberals and people who call themselves libertarians, generally speaking. I know a lot of intelligent, rational libertarians who are able to deal pragmatically with people, but a lot of libertarians tend to be a little off-the-wall and willing to die on the smallest hills.