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• Chapter 2 explores individualism, focusing on how its values shape ideology.
• Pages 42-64 cover understandings of ideologies.
• Individualism emphasizes independence, self-reliance, achievement, competition, and freedom.

Individualism in Western Liberal Societies

• Individualism's values are expressed politically, economically, and socially in Western liberal societies like Canada, the U.S., and Western Europe.

The Emergence of Individualism in Europe

• The Middle Ages (500-1300) defined people by their group or class.
• Individuality was neither valued nor promoted in the Middle Ages, with limited rights and freedoms for most.
• Art during the Middle Ages primarily featured religious themes.
• The Renaissance (1300-1600) saw growing interest in the individual.
• The Renaissance marked increasing importance of books, education, and the rise of wealthy nobles, merchants, and craftsmen.
• During the Renaissance, many people were still ruled by kings/queens.
• The Age of Enlightenment (1600s-1700s) led to a belief in the individual's rights to property, free travel, free speech, and equal treatment.
• Enlightenment philosophers emphasized the importance of each individual and the use of reason as a source of knowledge.
• Europe's Scientific Revolution challenged common knowledge, influencing revolutions in America and France.

The Rise of Liberalism

• Individualism's rising popularity resulted in liberalism, which focuses on individual liberty and freedoms.
• Liberal ideas of individual rights and freedoms fueled the French and American Revolutions
• During the 1900s, liberal democracies developed, guaranteeing individual rights and freedoms.

Political Aspects of Liberalism

• It focuses on equal legal rights and freedoms for all, regardless of gender, race, or economic status.

Economic Aspects of Liberalism

• Individuals have the right to property with minimized government control in economic markets.
• Value of goods and services are decided by individuals/companies instead of the government.

Social Aspects of Liberalism

• Individuals are the basis of society, and should be treated as equals with access to rights, freedoms and a quality of life.

Political Roots of Liberalism

• In 1776, the American colonies used the Declaration of Independence to legally recognize individual rights during independence from Britain.
• The French Revolution (1789-1799) middle and peasant classes sought more rights and freedoms, marking France's transition from absolutism to constitutional monarchy.
• Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu inspired these documents.
• Liberalism developed from revolutions, promoting equal legal rights and freedoms for all society members.

Rule of Law

• Enlightenment thinkers emphasized the rule of law, where the law has the most power, and all individuals are subject to it.
• The Magna Carta (1215) limited King John's powers in England, and it serves as an early example of the rule of law.
• Western democracies based their legal documents on the Magna Carta.

Social Contract

• The belief arose that each individual is capable of governing themselves.
• Enlightenment thinkers introduced the social contract: individuals agree to governance to gain benefits like trade, safety, and security.

Individual Rights and Freedoms

• Rise of political liberalism led to charters or declarations ensuring equal legal rights and freedoms in many countries
• Individual rights and freedoms are a key value of individualism implemented in liberal democracies.
• Examples include freedom of religion, freedom of association, the right to life, liberty, security, and the right to vote.
• Voltaire (1694-1778) said "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
• Voltaire's idea recognizes freedom of speech as a fundamental democratic right.
• Defamation is a crime on the rise on the internet.
• Free speech ought to be balanced against the rights of other individuals.

Economic Expressions of Individualism

• Economic liberalism allows individuals or companies to decide prices, giving consumers freedom to choose.

Economic Roots of Liberalism

• Mercantilism (1500-1700s) involved European countries exporting more goods than importing, accumulating wealth in gold/silver, protecting economies with taxes/quotas, and oppressing the working class.
• Under mercantilism, the Merchants and the government benefited greatly.
• Late 1700s physiocrats wanted an economy without government control or intervention.
• Key figures include Jacques Turgot, Francis Quesnay, and Adam Smith.
• Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" (1776) influenced global economies.
• Adam Smith rejected mercantilism, proposing that a free-market economy is more productive and beneficial

"The Wealth of Nations" and Free Market Economics

• Prices of goods and services are set by supply and demand, not by government intervention.
• People acting out of self-interest can help others and contribute to the common good.
• Hard work without government interfere leads to a healthier economy (laissez-faire).
• These ideas helped establish modern liberal economies during the Industrial Revolution.

Economic Freedom and Competition

• Economic freedoms include buying what you want and choosing jobs based on self-interest.
• Selling labor at a part-time job is an example of economic freedom.
• In 2005, more than 50% of all Canadian students had summer jobs.
• Employers hire hard-working, dependable employees with skill and experience
• Employers aim to pay employees so they can profit and compete in the market.
• Buyers aim to get the lowest price for the best quality product/service.

Private Property

• Many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples of Canada felt the land was for all living things.
• Some feel private property allows us to live as a society.
• Property law initially meant land (real estate); it expanded to physical possessions and intellectual property.

Social Expressions of Individualism

• Modern society stresses individual rights/freedoms.
• Modern liberals believe physical/mental challenges, skin color, sexual orientation, and gender issues should be addressed through government intervention

Social Roots of Liberalism

• As liberalism evolved into the late 1800s/1900s, governments protected and supported the working class and those in poverty.
• The Great Depression caused many liberals to push for government intervention in the economy.
• New ideas shifted classical liberals' beliefs, who thought less government intervention resulted in greater individual freedom.
• Some liberals pushed for healthcare for all, and there was debate over government's role in protecting individual rights/freedoms

Education and Individualism

• Quality education should be affordable to everyone, diminishing societal disunity.
• Public education's purpose is to be open to all children, publicly funded, and accountable to society.

Capital Punishment and Individualism

• Capital punishment (death penalty), abolished in Canada in 1976, highlights the conflict between collectivism and individualism.
• Collectivism prioritizes the needs of the many over the individual
• Individualism prioritizes human life as sacred and guaranteed, courts make fatal mistakes