Liberalism

The 10 Basic Principles of the Liberal Political Order

📘 Introduction

🏛️ A Philosophical Defense of Individual Liberty

In Liberalism: The 10 Basic Principles of the Liberal Political Order, Juan Ramón Rallo offers a rigorous intellectual effort to restore liberalism to its original philosophical meaning. Not as a vague ideological label or a partial economic stance, but as a coherent doctrine founded on liberty as the supreme political value.

Rallo argues that liberalism is not a market theory or a mere opposition to the state. It is an ethical proposal on how power should be structured in society. And it starts from a central premise:

📜 "Liberalism is the recognition of the equal liberty of all individuals."

Based on this idea, the author develops 10 principles that define a political order where respect for individual autonomy is not a state-granted favor but an inviolable right. It is a framework designed to limit power, protect property, and ensure peaceful coexistence under general and abstract rules.

More than a technical proposal, this book is a moral defense of the individual against all forms of structural oppression.

📖 1 — “Primacy of Individual Liberty”

🧭 The Individual as the Core of Political Order

The first principle of liberalism, according to Rallo, is direct and uncompromising: individual liberty is the foundation of a just political order. No institution —not the state, not the community, not the democratic majority— can legitimately violate individual rights.

📜 "Every person has the right to live as they choose, as long as they do not coercively interfere with others."

Liberty is not a legal concession; it is a natural condition of human beings. Rallo emphasizes that liberalism is not result-oriented nor collectivist —it is about rules that ensure non-interference between individuals.

This principle rejects:

State paternalism.

Forced redistribution.

The subordination of individuals to the “common good”.

For liberalism, justice is not about equal outcomes, but equal respect for personal freedom.

🗝️ Key Points:

Liberty is an absolute political value.

The state must not impose collective ends.

Each person is an end in themselves — not a means to someone else's goals.

🗣️ Highlighted phrase:

"Liberalism recognizes the individual as the only legitimate sovereign over their own life."

📖 2 — “Private Property Rights”

🏠 Liberty Requires a Space of One’s Own

The second principle is the natural extension of the first: private property is the material expression of individual liberty.

To act freely —to build, exchange, create, and live— a person must have exclusive control over certain resources. In other words, they need property.

📜 "Without private property, there is no liberty —only dependence on whoever controls the resources."

Rallo explains that property rights don’t stem from historical accidents, but from a logical need to define spheres of individual action.

Without property, there can be no legal security, no personal planning, no real autonomy. Property is the institutional shield that protects individuals from arbitrary power.

He defends property as:

The legitimate result of mixing labor with natural resources.

A right that must be respected unless it violates others’ rights.

A moral basis that promotes productivity, cooperation, and spontaneous order.

🗝️ Key Points:

Property is an extension of liberty.

Taking property without consent is coercion.

Respecting property is the foundation of mutual respect.

🗣️ Highlighted phrase:

"Private property is the practical guarantee of individual liberty."