ABSTRACT
Liberalism differs from its two foremost historical opponents, conservatism and socialism. Liberalism is the one true modern ideology. It is the work of no single theorist, the property of no particular group, but, unlike socialism and conservatism, it is carried in the hearts of citizens, written into the laws, and practiced in the everyday political life of existing, functioning political communities. Economic liberalism is the use of the market for carrying out three major tasks of any economy—investment, production, and distribution. Science has been closely tied to political liberalism, for freedom of thought and inquiry are necessary conditions for the scientific enterprise. The survival of cultural and economic liberalism, even in modified form, depends in the end upon the strength of political liberalism. The United States is the country most devoted to the principles of economic liberalism.
