How does liberalism differ from socialism?
There are important and fundamental differences between socialism and liberalism.
When critics attempt to slander liberals by calling them "socialists," liberals should immediately challenge them to define the difference between liberalism and socialism.
If they cannot, or continue to claim that they are the same, liberals should then chide them for being novices in political science, unable to define even the most basic terms of the debate.
Socialism means that workers, not private owners, would own and control the means of production: factories, farmland, machinery, and so on.
In democratic elections, workers would vote for
Socialism has been proposed in many forms, ranging from republics to direct democracies, from centralized state bureaucracies to free market anarchy. Political scientists do not view the "socialism" nominally practised by the Soviet Union as true socialism .
Soviet socialism was, essentially, a dictatorship over workers by a ruling elite, often referred to as the vanguard.
By comparison, liberals believe that private owners should own and control the means of production, formulate company policy, and have the right to select their own management team. Liberals would prevent them from abusing their powers through checks and balances like strong labor unions and democratic government.
Liberal thought originated in the enlightenment and is older than conservative thought. Both he French and US revolutions were based up liberal ideas. Many political scientists refer to conservative thought in the US as neo-liberal.
Some political scientists beleive China has a more effective government than the US. The Chinese government is, in fact, communist. The economy is mixed and has elements of both private enterprise and socialism . The Chinese leaders consider their government to be in the first phase of communism.
Corporations have far less power in China and Russia. If a company execitve embezzles a large sum of public money in China, he or she can be executed.
If corporation get involved in politics in Russia, the executives can be jailed and that is exactly what happened to the CEO of Yukos Energy. The Russian government also took back control of Yukos.
Are liberals and progressives against private enterprise? No.
Many of us would like to see corporate power curtailed in politics and more misbehaving executives jailed with long prison sentences. We would like to see the Citizens United Supreme court ruling overturned as well.
source: http://www.alternet.org/module/feed/mobile/?storyID=149019&type=story
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When critics attempt to slander liberals by calling them "socialists," liberals should immediately challenge them to define the difference between liberalism and socialism.
If they cannot, or continue to claim that they are the same, liberals should then chide them for being novices in political science, unable to define even the most basic terms of the debate.
Socialism means that workers, not private owners, would own and control the means of production: factories, farmland, machinery, and so on.
In democratic elections, workers would vote for
- their supervisors
- their representatives to a local and national council of their industry or service
- their representatives to a central congress representing all the industries and services.
Socialism has been proposed in many forms, ranging from republics to direct democracies, from centralized state bureaucracies to free market anarchy. Political scientists do not view the "socialism" nominally practised by the Soviet Union as true socialism .
Soviet socialism was, essentially, a dictatorship over workers by a ruling elite, often referred to as the vanguard.
By comparison, liberals believe that private owners should own and control the means of production, formulate company policy, and have the right to select their own management team. Liberals would prevent them from abusing their powers through checks and balances like strong labor unions and democratic government.
Liberal thought originated in the enlightenment and is older than conservative thought. Both he French and US revolutions were based up liberal ideas. Many political scientists refer to conservative thought in the US as neo-liberal.
Some political scientists beleive China has a more effective government than the US. The Chinese government is, in fact, communist. The economy is mixed and has elements of both private enterprise and socialism . The Chinese leaders consider their government to be in the first phase of communism.
Corporations have far less power in China and Russia. If a company execitve embezzles a large sum of public money in China, he or she can be executed.
If corporation get involved in politics in Russia, the executives can be jailed and that is exactly what happened to the CEO of Yukos Energy. The Russian government also took back control of Yukos.
Are liberals and progressives against private enterprise? No.
Many of us would like to see corporate power curtailed in politics and more misbehaving executives jailed with long prison sentences. We would like to see the Citizens United Supreme court ruling overturned as well.
source: http://www.alternet.org/module/feed/mobile/?storyID=149019&type=story
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UFPYA
Netcraft rank: 7373 http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://rightardia.blogspot.com
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