Letters to the Editor
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Utopia & liberalism
But I do believe that everyone has the ability and the right to contribute and lead fulfilling lives in society. This is impossible in todays classist society, and one that will not be solved by "liberalism" (which in fact, has no sense of collectivity; it's an individualist political philosophy). It will only be possible with eliminating, as much as possible, monetary, racial, and sexual barriers.
Sean,
For a foundational philosophy, I prefer one which stresses the freedom of the individual, i.e., liberalism. From there one can move on to the public good.
Liberalism is conducive to your concerns. It can eliminate, to the exent possible, the barriers you wrote of. In fact, it is the liberal philosophy which produced the civil rights laws in the United States. (Don't misunderstand; the hard work of oppressed individuals was the civil rights movement, but the goal of that movement was a liberal goal). There is no reason that liberalism cannot narrow monetary barriers, too. A minimum and maximum wage, just taxation, and channeling of funds into the greater good can lead to a fair economy and society. What's missing, as always, is political will, a problem which is exacerbated by political corruption; those things, however, are part of the human condition and will unfortunately be found in any system, be it capitalist, communist, or socialist.
Lastly, call me naive, but I think that liberalism can accomodate the best ideas of capitalism and socialism and other helpful -isms, because liberalism is devoted to societal progress. If a thing works well, use it; if not, disregard it.
We should reach for the stars, as you say. I for one will never falter in my attempt to invent a truly good vegan brie cheese.