The classic liberal assumed that people would naturally know limits of decent behavior and would not cross those limits.
The challenge today is to give voice, to, describe, and define the limits that the classic liberal assumed everyone would agree to.
Some examples:
The classic liberal assumed that abortion would be safe and rare and early in a pregnancy, that sexual activity would occur between people who bore mutual respect and affection for each other and were likely to marry each other, that the institution of marriage would persist with no need for social protections, that affirmative action would give favoritism to those very close to the academic performance of everyone else and that there would not be huge gaps in student achievement or teacher performance, that homosexuality was natural, but rare, they had no concept of gay culture, they had no concept of transexuality and gender confusion whatsoever.
Other assumptions: three square meals a day without mentioning who prepares them, neat table manners, bedtime routines, attention to fitness. In the 1990's the concept of "sinkies" started: wolfing down a meal while standing over a sink because people were too busy to cook, sit and eat.
The modern lifestyle does not allow for the three square meals a day concept such that recommendation are now to get the food groups into your children over the period of a week and not over the period of a day.
Liberals like to stay obtuse, speaking of issues that do not relate to real life, it is a mark of elitism to be concerned about global warming and not about your own neighbor.
I will never understand why a family I knew made no effort to protect their daughters, once the oldest one was behaving in a promiscuous fashion, why they could not curb their other daughters, two of whom got date raped, one violently. They had a beautiful home in Brookline Mass, why not keep their daughters home, give them curfews, educate them on abstinence? Social pressure was just too stacked against sexual limits
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