Political Ideologies

A little something about ideologies:

An ideology is a set of closely held beliefs and values that affect the way a person (or group) interacts with the world around them.  They can be really specific or general, political or religious, or whatever.  Usually a person holds their ideology to be “common sense,” as in their own mind it is obvious and naturally true. I like to imagine the different ideologies as glasses with colorful lenses that nobody realizes they are wearing.  Imagine that you are wearing pink shades and you don’t even realize it.  Everything you look at is going to be tinged with pink.  That is how an ideology works.  People see the world through the lens of their particular ideology and the things they say, think, and act on are all affected by it.  For example, I think I can safely say that most people believe they have a duty to feed their children.  It is part of the ideology that a human being is responsible for the care of his/her offspring.  I used the most ridiculous example just to be clear. J

Fortunately (or unfortunately – however you want to look at it) not everyone is wearing the same shade of glasses.  There are so many different ideas out there and they are all just as deeply believed as the next.  And they totally conflict with each other.  And this is why I think it is important to look in the mirror, figure out what color of shades you are wearing, and then figure out how other people’s shades affect their outlook on life. When you can understand another person’s ideology and see where they are coming from, you are just going to be able to have a more reasonable and productive discussion with them.   

           

And now on to political ideologies:

Remember, these have all been at one time, or are currently held as “common sense” to a group of people. Some of these ideologies are mutually exclusive.  In other words, you don’t often find a classically liberal fascist.  But others mesh well together especially in American ideologies because they really don’t differ too much from each other.

Anarchism – The best government is no government.  The existence of any government at all is repressive to the individual.

Absolutism – A single person should rule the government, economy, and people.  This used to be the norm – monarchs, pharaohs, sultans…you get it.  So what were the deeply held beliefs of absolutists?

1. A sense of order is imperative – society should be strictly structured.  Any sort of disorder or chaos is hazardous.   

2. Usually in absolutist societies there is a clear cut nature of things, or even law from God.  There is a belief that some people are better than others, and therefore should rule over them. 

3. And last, new ideas are dangerous – they upset order and cause chaos.

Classical liberalism (not to be confused with American liberalism of today) – When classical liberalism started to come about it was really radical.  Now we totally take these ideas for granted as duh – obvious.  Here are the tenets of classical liberalism:

            1.  Freedom – Individuals have an innate right to make decisions for themselves.  The right isn’t absolute (for example, you can’t just go around murdering people) but it was from this idea that we get the freedom to practice whichever religion we choose, or no religion at all.

            2. Equality – no person is intrinsically superior to any other person. 

            3. Rationalism – Humans are capable of thinking and reasoning for themselves.

            4. Individualism – An individual’s interests take priority over the society as a whole.

5. Progress – Traditions should only be kept if they have value.  New ideas are generally good for society.

            6. Free market (capitalism) – An economic system where individuals have ownership of the markets rather than the government. 

It is classical liberalism that made democracy possible.  If you want to learn more about the founders of these ideas read stuff from these guys: John Locke and John Stuart Mill.  They are the founders of the ideas of the founding fathers!

Classical Conservatism – (again not to be confused with current American conservatism) – these ideologies came in response to the ideologies of classical liberals.  Classical conservatives mainly advocated sticking with a monarchy.  People who believed in classical conservatism were disturbed by the violence and revolutions (France and the USA) that resulted in the new liberal ideas.  Here were their thoughts:

1.      Stability – Stability is valuable and should be maintained.  Change results in violence and chaos.

2.      Concreteness – Liberalism is too abstract and forgets about the practical aspects of every day life.

3.      Human fallibility – Humans are imperfect.  Liberalism forgets that they are fallible

4.      Uniqueness – there is no universal human condition and no universal answer to solve mankind’s problems.  Every country is unique.

Want to learn more about classical conservatism?  Read stuff from Edmund Burke. 

Socialism – This new political belief system came in response to the industrial revolution.  People who embraced socialism were unhappy with the results that classical liberalism brought to their lives.  Basically we have unbridled capitalism to thank for the creation of socialism.  Here are the tenets of socialism –

            1. Collectivism – Human beings are social by nature – individualism is destructive.

            2. Public ownership – Society as a whole, not individuals, should own property.  No private ownership. 

            3. Central economic planning – The government should plan the economy – no free markets.  In other words, the government produces the bread and distributes it. 

            4. Economic equality – all citizens should have the same level of prosperity. No rich, no poor.

            If you want to learn more about socialism read stuff by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin. 

Democratic Socialism – A peaceful approach to achieving socialism.  These people believe in a classless society, where all citizens have the same level of prosperity, but they believe it should happen through democratic processes (vote).  They are ok with it gradually coming to pass.  Examples Scandinavia and other European countries have democratic socialist parties who have had a lot of success with the electorate.

Communism – Communists also believe in socialism, but feel like waiting around for it to happen peacefully isn’t ideal.  They call for revolution where the proletariat (lower class) can and should rise up against the bourgeois (upper class) and take control of the government. After the revolution they can create the socialist society.  Examples – China and the Soviet Union.

Nationalism – A strong belief that your nation is great – in fact the greatest of all.

Fascism – One person holds absolute power.  Example, Mussolini in Italy. Fascist beliefs:

1.      Action – Human beings find meaning through action, not reason.

2.      Community spirit – People should be part of a community.  Individualism is dangerous.

3.      Nationalism – the community that matters the most, is the nation.  People should work together to uphold the glory and power of the nation.

4.      Militarism – The nation should have a strong, powerful military, and should use it to expand its territory.

5.      One party – The nation should be united.  Therefore only one party is allowed and it holds absolute power.

6.      Violence – the government rules its people with violence or the threat of violence.

Nazism - A type of fascism – they share most of the values of fascism, but differ in a few ways.  They believe in a mythical past in which they are the good fighting against the evil.  And they embrace virulent racism.  They uphold “racial purity” as an ideal.  Example, Hitler in Germany.

Fundamentalism – Fundamentalists believe in a religious text as absolutely true and any opposition as absolutely wrong. They believe that all behavior for all people should be guided by the text.  Nearly all religions have fundamentalist sects. Examples – Islamic fundamentalists and the Koran, Christian fundamentalists and the Bible. In the United States the “Religious Right” has a powerful impact on politics – especially in the Republican Party.

American Ideologies – Most American political ideologies are variations on Classical Liberalism as it was through classical liberalism that our country was founded!  Most (except socialism) of these ideologies agree on a few things – namely democracy is the best form of government, free market best economic system, individual liberty is important, and government should be limited.  They actually just vary on how best to implement these things. Most Americans actually believe a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  Let’s start with:

            1. American Liberalism -   They think the government should act to ensure more equality between its citizens.  They believe in the free market, but feel that it should be regulated to protect those who may be hurt by its faults. They want to protect the poor from the rich.

            2. American Conservatism – They feel that the main purpose of government is to protect freedom and provide security. They feel the best way to achieve prosperity (and security) is to leave the markets alone.  They support limited government – freedom trumps equality.  They value tradition – especially religious tradition.

            3. American Libertarianism – Libertarians believe that personal liberty trumps all.  The government should stay out of the lives of its citizens.  They believe taxes should be minimal, and government programs should be virtually nonexistent.  Their views regarding legalization of street drugs, ending welfare programs, and abolishing income tax are controversial to both the conservatives and liberals.

            4. American Socialism – We do have a few communist parties in America, but most socialist parties are democratic socialists – they believe in creating a socialist economic system through the slow and peaceful process of democracy.

Feminism – Feminists believe women are equal to men and should be treated equally by the law. There are many different feminist ideologies, but the main point for all of them is that they are striving for political, social, and economic equality for women and men.

Environmentalism – Believe that humankind has a duty to protect the planet from the uncontrolled use of human populations. Some believe in using peaceful means (democracy) to achieve it and others believe in violence.  There is a spectrum here as with everything.

I used Spark Notes a lot to help me with the outline – just wanted to credit the source. J