The MPS founding manifesto committed to general values, not specific programmatic aims

Evidence

Comparison of these two sets of aims reveals a rather striking diminution of more specific content in the MPS manifesto. After all, isn’t the appeal to the need for “further study” the last refuge of academic scoundrels? One can interpret this not only as evidence of a fair amount of dissension within the ranks of the MPS; but also as evidence that the transnational band of participants did not have a very clear idea of where the project was headed in 1947. The only immutable truths to which they were eager to pledge their troth were those of a more general philosophical and normative kind: the fundamental neoliberal values and principled beliefs we can discern in the short list of six major tasks that have guided the neoliberal thought collective. These tasks include economic freedom and individualism, the affirmation of moral standards, and possibly surprising for many critiques: social minimum standards (acknowledging the limits of private charity). Among the principled beliefs were those in positive state functions, a system of law and order, and international trade. Notably absent are the range of human and political rights traditionally embraced by liberals (including the right to form coalitions and freedom of the press). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 149

Categorization

• DEFINE: Specifies what the six MPS tasks actually were: economic freedom, individualism, moral standards, and surprisingly, social minimum standards.
• XREF: Directly relevant to Mirowski/Plehwe’s ongoing argument about the neoliberal thought collective as a networked project — supports the reader’s core historiography goal. — connects to: Shared worldview rather than shared profession bonded the MPS’s diverse members — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 127; The MPS self-conceived as a forum for universal principles, not national concerns. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 169; MPS faced a founding tension between populist reach and elite exclusivity — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 324
• SEED: The notable absence of press freedom and coalition rights from early MPS statements is a sharp angle for an essay on private-liberty vs. civic-liberty tension in early neoliberalism.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 149

Broader Connections

• The MPS self-conceived as a forum for universal principles, not national concerns. #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 169
• MPS faced a founding tension between populist reach and elite exclusivity #expands (0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 324