[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Liberalism
Jefferson, who is often touted as a prime example of the classical liberal footing, represents a definitive case for examination for exploration of these discrepancies. Mr. Jefferson is heavily quoted by those who would like to move us in the direction of smaller government. In that, they are perhaps to be forgiven. But that hardly does Jefferson fair. His 'faith' in the individual was far from developed. Indeed, with 'modern' society forming just over the horizon, he did not offer much hope. For him, the individual needed to be intimately connected to the soil. Barring that, and given industry and urban settings, the individual was quite in trouble. This may be a peculiar form of determinism, but it is determinism nonetheless. Further, even the faith he professed in individuals was of a peculiar nature. It, of course, did not extend beyond white males, and not even all of them (Shaw, 12).
If we were to have the small scale agrarian society which Jefferson preferred, we could then have small government and strong individuals. But, if we moved toward industrialized society, it is not clear that Jefferson would be so convinced that such options were plausible. For the problems he saw developing out of industrialized settings would demand governance to contain. Furthermore, the economic order Mr. Jefferson hoped to maintain would be unable to support very large populations. In fact, they would require very limited population. So, Jefferson is not only totally irrelevant to the society which developed, but he was constrained toward Malthusian outcomes, given that development. To champion his thought in view of what has developed is irresponsible at the very least. His vision of modern man in urban industrial America would hardly be an enlightened one. In such a setting, reason would be lost to the multitudes..............
