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Technocratic liberalism builds on the scientific progress of the Modern Era. Modern science and technocratic liberalism are one and the same. The technocratic liberal, however, looks at all the wondrous works brought about by modern science and technology, sees that man can seemingly design anything, and then applies that principal to government, economy, and society, deciding that if we can design an engine, we can design a properly-run economy, society, and government. This was the dream of scientific socialism. This is the world of the bureaucrat.
Economic liberalism is free market economics. This is the form of liberalism associated with libertarianism. And, while it's true that historically economic freedom has always preceded political freedom, the fact that you can have economic freedom without political freedom has resulted in too many classical liberals supporting anti-liberal ideas in politics.
If we are truly pro-liberty, we should want a system that includes all three at the same time, in balance with each other. The good news is that the science that resulted in old-school technocrats is no longer valid. The universe is not a engine which is running down. The universe is an ever-complexifying system that grows and creates. What we now understand about the world, using 21st century rather than 19th century science, shows a world that is in fact with economic liberalism. The old technocratic, bureaucratic worldview is wrong. Thus, the liberal value of science has developed to the point that it undermines what technocratic liberalism evolved into. The new technocratic liberalism shows that it is identical with economic liberalism.
This still leaves us with the problem of political liberalism, and the fact that under a democracy, the people can (and will, if you let them) vote away all their freedoms. The solution is a constitution which prevents people from voting away their liberties is necessary. Obviously, our Constitution has been violated repeatedly, with the Supreme Court "discovering" things in the document not to be found by any sane human being. What this requires is a free market economic bill of rights to protect people from themselves and the government officials they elect. It also requires us to understand that the impetus behind allowing the direct election of Senators -- so that the federal government can "get something done" -- is entirely wrong-headed when it comes to the proper role of government. History shows that the more a government gets done, the more quickly our liberties vanish. An active government is detrimental to all three forms of liberalism.
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