LIBERALISM AND SOCIALISM

Ideologies of the state

LIBERAL-INDIVIDUALIST PERSPECTIVE ON THE STATE

INDIVIDUAL AS A CENTRE POINT: welfare of the individual most important.

MAN IS THE ONLY POINT FROM WHICH ALL MUST ISSUE AND TO WHICH ALL MUST RETURN

Individual is autonomous, selfish, self-centered and atomized.

STATE IS A NECESSARY EVIL

State controls and any kind of control is an impediment to human development.

State is necessary because selfishness of men would lead to disorder and chaos in the society.

‘Government is best which governs the least’.

JOHN STUART MILL DEFINES IT AS

“ PURSUING OUR OWN GOOD IN OUR OWN WAY, SO LONG AS WE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DEPRIVE OTHERS OF THEIR’S OR IMPEDE THEIR EFFORTS TO OBTAIN IT”.

EMPHASIS ON LIBERTY

ADAM SMITH AND THE LAISSEZ FAIRE

THEORY By getting government out of economy,

letting the economy alone, state will have the best system. According to Smith, market itself will arrange the economy. Public will have best quality goods at the lowest prices. Supply and demand determine prices. Invisible hand or unseen hand regulates the economy. Society should be free as possible from government interference.

Socialism defined

Text: “An ideology arguing that citizens are best served by policies focused on meeting the basic needs of the entire society rather than on serving the needs of individuals as individuals.”

Socialism

Ancient roots – Judeo-Christian belief in the common good, which takes precedence over individual desires

Term “socialism” coined in 1827 by British socialist Robert Owen to describe his view of a cooperative new society.

Socialism’s emergence

Liberal political parties in 19th century Europe failed to address the desperate needs of working people. Classical liberalism views poverty as an

individual choice or failure, not the result of social structures. Also suspicious of big government.

Socialism provides a different conception of individual responsibility & of government.

Socialism

In England, socialism became a political movement in 1884, with the creation of the Fabians, who provided the basis for the new Labour Party. Many Labour governments since, including the current

government of

Prime Minister

Tony Blair.

Socialism’s principles

egalitarianism or equality.  Humankind will be unified and cooperative, once wealth is owned and used for the common good. Capitalism exploits the very people who create society’s wealth.

Moralism. Division of rich & poor is evil; capitalism is fundamentally unjust. Instead, the ideal future emphasizes peace, social justice and true liberty for all. 

Karl Marx 1818 - 1883

Mid- Late Nineteenth Century Britain

•Unrest and protest – Chartism

•Long hours, low pay

•Periodic unemployment

•No Welfare State

•No universal right to vote

Mid-Nineteenth Century Europe

Revolution in France - 1848

Revolutions elsewhere in Europe

Times of Turmoil

Marx’s insight:

It’s all about money

Some have it……

They are called capitalists (or the bourgeoisie)

Others don’t …..

They are called the workers (or the proletariat)

Capitalists and workers are thrown together into relations of production

They don’t get on too well

Capitalists want

the maximum PROFIT – and the lowest costs

Workers want

the highest wage for the least work

These two groups are locked in mortal

combat

The Capitalists compete with each other.

The successful capitalist’s get richer and richer

…and the failed capitalists fall down into the working class

The workers meanwhile are more and more exploited by the remaining capitalists – they

get poorer and poorer

Marx said that eventually the workers will rise up in revolution

against the capitalist class

A new communist society will be created

The backstory

What is making all this happen?

Marx has a theory

it’s because societies are always made from two parts

The Base

The base is like the foundations of a building. Marxists say the economy (the means of production)

is the base

And the superstructureThe rest of the building which

is built on the foundations

The superstructure means all the other parts of society – culture, the

state, education

The economic base determines (shapes) the superstructure

So this is calledThe base-superstructure model

Superstructure

Base

Social Control in capitalist society is achieved through

ideology - ruling class ideology

The ruling ideas in any time are always those of the ruling class

The working class may suffer from false consciousness – not understanding their true class

position

Not a bad theory – but there are several criticisms which can be made of it

It’s not all about money – this is economically reductionist

e.g. what about ideas, culture, religion?

Marxism makes people appear to be dominated by structures

Puppets or People with the ability to act?

Gender and Race blind -the only social groupings it seems

to recognise are classes