Ideas from classical liberal thinkers on the state and individual, rule of law, civil society and subsidiarity, free market.

1. Liberalism, Rule of Law
and Civil Society
Bienvenido “Nonoy” Oplas Jr.
Minimal Government Thinkers, Inc.
Manila, Philippines
Forum at Trisara Restaurant
Pokhara, Nepal, 12 January 2015
Occasional Lectures on Markets and Business

2. OUTLINE
I. The book
II. F. Hayek, liberty and rule of law
III. Local government and civil society
IV. Liberalism, socialism and conservatism
V. Raison d ‘etre of government
VI. Minarchy vs. anarchy
VII.Pork barrel scandal and liberalism
VIII.Concluding notes

3. 1. The Book
• My 2nd book, an e-book,
published by the Friedrich
Naumann Foundation for
Freedom (FNF) Philippine Office,
2014
• Freely available here,
http://fnf.org.ph/epub/
• 7 chapters, nearly 300 pages
including illustrations
• Collection of my essays and blog
articles from 2005-2013,
updated, revised and edited

4. 2. F. Hayek, Liberty and Rule of Law
• Reflections on some chapters of Friedrich
Hayek’s book published in 1960
• Roundtable discussion whole day about the
book held in Phuket, Thailand, 2005,
sponsored by the Atlas Economic Research
Foundation and FNF, a day before the
Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia
conference, held at same hotel
• Moderated by famous modern
classical liberal scholar, Leonard
Liggio (RIP) of Atlas
• Participants were Charu (Nepal),
“Hayek of China” Liu, “Hayek of
Korea” Kim, others from Japan,
Pakistan, Vietnam, India, Georgia,
Malaysia, Cambodia, Phils.

5. "Liberty is essential in order to leave room for the
unforeseeable and unpredictable. Because every individual
knows so little that we trust the independent and competitive
efforts of many to induce the emergence of what we shall
want when we see it.― (Ch. 2)
“While the uses of liberty are
many, liberty is one. Liberties
appear only when liberty is
lacking. Difference between
liberty and liberties -- that
which exists between a
condition in which all is
permitted that is not
prohibited by general rules
and one in which all is
prohibited that is not explicitly
permitted…” (Ch. 1)

6. ―The aim of assigning responsibility is to make man
different from what he is or might be… The knowledge
that he will be held responsible will influence a person‘s
conduct in a desirable direction. Assigning of responsibility
makes people observe certain rules.‖ (Ch. 5)
―In the long run, the existence of
groups ahead of the rest is
clearly an advantage of those
who are behind, in the same
way that, if we could suddenly
draw on the more advanced
knowledge which some other
men on a previously unknown
continent or on another planet
had gained under more
favorable conditions, we would
all profit greatly.‖ (Ch. 3)

7. ―By ‗law‘ we mean the general rules that apply equally to
everybody…
Even general, abstract rules, equally applicable to all, may possibly
constitute restrictions on liberty. But this is unlikely. The chief
safeguard is that the rules must apply to those who lay them down
and those who apply—that is, to the government as well as the
governed – and that nobody has the power to grant exceptions.‖
(Ch. 10)
―The great aim of the struggle for
liberty has been equality before
the law… Equality of the general
rules of law and conduct,
however, is the only kind of
equality conducive to liberty and
the only equality which we can
secure without destroying
liberty… (which) is bound to
produce inequality in many
respects… ― (Ch. 6)

8. ―That any law should apply equally to all. General and equal
laws provide the most effective protection against infringement
of individual liberty. It is this fact that all rules apply equally to all,
including those who govern, which makes it improbable that any
oppressive rules will be adopted.‖ (Ch. 14)
Recap:
* Liberty means absence of coercion.
* Freedom is inseparable from responsibility; fear of
responsibility is fear of freedom itself.
* Equality before the law; the law applies equally to unequal
people.
* Rule of law means no exception. No one is exempted and no
one can grant an exemption.

9. 3. Local Government and Civil Society
• Attendied the International Academy
for Leadership (IAF) seminar on
“Local Government and Civil Society”,
Theodor Heuss Akademie (THA),
Gummersbach, Germany. Sponsored
by the FNF
• Participants from Asia, S. America,
Africa and E. Europe

10. ―Subsidiarity is an organising principle of decentralisation,
stating that a matter ought to be handled by the smallest,
lowest, or least centralised authority capable of addressing
that matter effectively. The Oxford English Dictionary
defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority
should have a subsidiary function, performing only those
tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more
immediate or local level.‖
-- Wikipedia, accessed on October 28, 2013
Decentralization of power, from the central or national
government to the sub-national or local government,
affirms the beauty of the principle of subsidiarity. People
see the inefficiencies and impracticality of central planning
under a socialist or highly welfarist state.
Competition is happening among local governments.
.

11. “Deregulation” does not mean abolition of all regulations,
only reduction of too many regulations and permits,
liberalizing the economy to facilitate entry of new players.
“Demonopolization” does not mean abolition of the
incumbent monopoly corporation, only allowing other
players to compete with the existing monopoly.
“Degovernmentization” does not mean abolition of the
government, only reduction of functions, responsibilities
and bureaucracies, national/central government and local
governments, giving more responsibilities back to citizens
as individual, parental and civil society responsibilities.
.

12. There will be a “lean state” where state structure exists
only where it is absolutely necessary, and the state at
any level is not carrying out any task and duty which
private businesses or citizens can do for society.
.
Civil society is the final
stage of a functioning
local government. If all
means of
decentralization,
deregulation and
privatization have been
implemented, citizens
have been involved as
comprehensively as
possible, civil society has
emerged.

13. 4. Liberalism, Socialism and Conservatism

14. • Authoritarianism and its
cousin ideologies have deep-
seated belief that people are
irrational if left alone and can
be destructive and
conspiratorial against their
fellowmen.
• Democratism despises this
idea, danger of abuses.
Thus, the political will of the
majority over the minority.
• Liberalism shares with democratism in rejecting
authoritarianism, but it does not believe that individual
liberty should be sacrificed at the altar of national or
collective liberty. The primacy of individual liberty and
responsibility is at the heart of this political philosophy.

15. • Lao Tzu or Laozi (600 BC), considered
the first intellectual in China and the
world (he came earlier than Plato),
championed individual liberty.
• ―The more restrictions and limitations
there are, the more impoverished men
will be... The more rules and precepts
are enforced, the more bandits and
crooks will be produced.‖
• ―Through my non-action, men are spontaneously
transformed.
Through my quiescence, men spontaneously become
tranquil.
Through my non-interference, men spontaneously
increase their wealth.‖

16. People in general are rational and not violent. But there are
exception, like dictators, bureaucrats and autocrats.

17. "The characteristic feature of modern
capitalism is mass production of goods
destined for consumption by the masses.
The result is a tendency towards a
continuous improvement in the average
standard of living, a progressing
enrichment of the many. Capitalism
deproletarianizes the 'common man' and
elevates him to the rank of a 'bourgeois'.
"On the market of a capitalistic society the common man is the
sovereign consumer whose buying or abstention from buying
ultimately determines what should be produced and in what quantity
and quality...
Wealth can be acquired only by serving the consumers. The
capitalists lose their funds as soon as they fail to invest them in
those lines in which they satisfy best the demands of the
public.‖

18. "To cure the British disease with
socialism was like trying to cure
leukaemia with leeches.
We want a society where people
are free to make choices, to
make mistakes, to be generous
and compassionate. This is
what we mean by a moral
society; not a society where the
state is responsible for
everything, and no one is
responsible for the state.‖
―I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain
from a dependent to a self-reliant society -- from a give-it-to-
me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-
back-and-wait-for-it Britain.‖ (February 1984)

19. 5. Raison d ‘etre of Government
“Raison d’etre” = reason for
existence
If raison d’etre of government is to
provide only services B or C, yet
government spent up to services D
and E, even if “zero stealing”
happened, it’s still corruption
because more tax money were
confiscated from the citizens to
spend on sectors that do not deserve
to be subsidized forever.
Chart from James Buchanan’s book, “The Calculus of
Consent” (1962).

20. “Every individual...generally, indeed, neither intends
to promote the public interest, nor knows how much
he is promoting it…. he intends only his own gain,
and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an
invisible hand to promote an end which was no part
of his intention.” --TWN, Book IV Chapter II
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the
brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but
from their regard to their own interest. We address
ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-
love, and never talk to them of our necessities but of
their advantages.” -- TWN, Book I Chapter II
The whole, or almost the whole public revenue, is in most countries employed in
maintaining unproductive hands... Such people, as they themselves produce
nothing, are all maintained by the produce of other men's labour...
Those unproductive hands, who should be maintained by a part only of the spare
revenue of the people, may consume so great a share of their whole revenue… all
the frugality and good conduct of individuals may not be able to compensate the
waste and degradation of produce occasioned by this violent and forced
encroachment. -- TWN, Book II, Chapter III

21. First row: G. Washington, Tacitus, Einstein.
Second row: P.J. O'Rourke, Doug Casey,
Ludwig von Mises.
Third row: H.L. Mencken, Benjamin Franklin,
Barry Goldwater.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it
is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and
a fearful master. – G. Washington
The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt
the society. - Tacitus
"Never do anything against conscience even if
the State demands it." - Einstein
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts
either of them. -- P. J. O'Rourke.
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich
countries to rich people in poor countries.- Doug Casey

22. “Social contract" theoreticians: Hobbes, Locke,
Rousseau. A. Smith, below right, added.
Thomas Hobbes In the beginning, there was
no state, no law, othing is right or wrong.
Everyone is free to do as he pleases. Life was
nasty, short and brutish. Civilization was not
possible in this “state of nature.” Submission
to authority, have laws, will result in a life
better than that
John Locke: contract between people and
government, it should protect the life and
property of citizens. Failure to do so is a simple
breach of contract. sovereign people have the
right to rebel against abusive "servant.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau people being "forced to be free” but also
concerned with individual freedom can be incompatible with authority of
the state.

23. ―… for if everything is considered
carefully, it will be found that
something which looks like virtue, if
followed, would be his ruin; whilst
something else, which looks like vice,
yet followed brings him security and
prosperity.‖ -- Chapter XV, The Prince
―seeing that with his economy his revenues are enough, that he
can defend himself against all attacks, and is able to engage in
enterprises without burdening his people; thus it comes to pass
that he exercises liberality towards all from whom he does not
take, who are numberless, and meanness towards those to
whom he does not give, who are few.‖ -- Chapter XVI:

24. 6. Minarchy vs. Anarchy

25. 7. Pork Barrel Scandal and Liberalism
• “Million March” in Manila, August 26, 2013. Unique because it was
largely spontaneous, no central leader or central plan.
• Not directed against a particular leader but against corruption in
general and corrupt govt. officials especially among legislators

26. 8. Concluding Notes

27. "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed
itself within. The essential causes of Rome‘s decline lay in her people, her
morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism,
her stifling taxes, her consuming wars." – Will Durant