![]() Such instruction presupposes a legislator, and a legislator presupposes a stable political system, a stable polity. Any practical reform movement must bargain with the status quo, and the colonial status quo characterized by a skepticism of economic competition has been a major challenge to the adoption of liberal ideas in Mexico and much of Latin America.Īt one point in The Wealth of Nations Smith describes his discourse as a contribution to "the science of a legislator" (1976/1776, 468). ![]() It must be recognized, however, that Smith's philosophy also gives considerable presumption to the status quo. Liberalism revolves around the idea of liberty that we may associate with John Locke's "natural rights" or Smith's "natural liberty." It holds a presumption in favor of liberty: Anyone who proposes a contravention of the liberty principle bears a burden of proof. Adam Smith has long been liberalism's best representative, and he captured the essence of liberalism when he expounded the principle of "allowing every man to pursue his own interest his own way, upon the liberal plan of equality, liberty and justice" (1976/1776, 664). ![]()
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