• Omnipitaph@reddthat.com
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    2 days ago

    Okedoke, well I just learned that I have no concrete grasp of political labels and need to do a LOT of research.

    • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      Extreme simplification:

      Liberalism: supports capitalism. Current system + tweaks

      Leftism: supports anticapitalism of some form, the two biggest umbrellas being Marxism/Communism and Anarchism

      Marxism/Communism: supports collectivization, public ownership, and central planning (I have an introductory reading list if you want to learn more, or just read Principles of Communism)

      Anarchism: supports full horizontalism and networks of communes

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 day ago

          They’re conveniently leaving out the entire concept of Socialism for some reason, while making sure to mention Marxism by name.

          So I would make sure to add that to the list. Communism is a specific form of socialism, but the two are non synonymous.

          • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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            1 day ago

            I leave out “socialism” because for the vast majority of actual implementations, they have been Marxist in character, and additionally any Socialist system in my opinion would either progress to Communism or regress to Capitalism, making it kind of redundant to split from Communism.

            Communism isn’t a type of Socialism if we are being nitpicky, but the Mode of Production after Socialism.

            Additionally, I did say it was an extreme simplification, and I meant that. I’m not diving into syndicalism, utopianism, Posadism, Maoism, Gonzaloism, Trotskyism, Hoxaism, etc because ultimately they don’t need to be delved into for someone with no knowledge.

            • within_epsilon@beehaw.org
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              8 hours ago

              I know we are engaged in other conversation. I will read the other comment when I have time to kill.

              I need to respond to the continuum idea of politics namely: capitalism -> socialism -> communism. The continuum is a creation of Lenin in State and Revolution. A similar anachronism is suggesting there is a continuum to evolution. Continuum’s are silly for evolution and politics.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                8 hours ago

                That’s actually wrong. Marx came up with it, he just called what Lenin called “Socialism” as “lower-stage Communism.” The origin is in Historical Materialism, and the concept of Scientific Socialism (as opposed to the Utopian form that thought you could just think up a good society and create it outright).

                Calling it a “continuum” is misleading. Capitalism, as an example, starts with many smaller Capitalists but eventually concentrates and monopolizes. This is a trackable and historical motion, not a “continuum” but nonetheless an observed trend. Socialism, on the other hand, continues that movement but does so in the direction of collectivization, as public ownership and planning not only becomes feasible but far more efficient at higher levels of development, which is also observable and trackable.

                Communism is when this process has been done and all private property has been folded into the public sector. This isn’t a straight and narrow line, but a process that will happen in many different manners across many different countries, but by tracking trajectories and behaviors this prediction becomes clearer and clearer, and Marx becomes vindicated by the passage of time as we observe them coming to fruition.

            • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              10 hours ago

              It’s also a type of socialism, by the modern definition of the term as I understand it

              I know how Marxist-Leninists describe it, but I’m not a Marxist-Leninist.

              Socialism is an umbrella term that includes communism.

              • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                10 hours ago

                The person we are replying to is someone who wanted the absolute basics. Getting into the nuances of minor Syndicalist movements, the historical Utopian Socialists like Saint-Simon, or other forms really isn’t relevant unless you want to dig deeper.

                Historically, the 2 largest and most significant strands of Leftist thinking and practice have been Marxist and Anarchist, and there are no non-Communist Marxists. I mean this absolutely, 99.9% of existing leftism has been either Marxist or Anarchist. They don’t need to understand the subtle differences in Yugoslavian Marxism or Russian or Chinese or Cuban, because they all are forms of Marxism.

                Further still, again, Communism comes after Socialism. It isn’t a form of Socialism.

                • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  10 hours ago

                  Further still, again, Communism comes after Socialism. It isn’t a form of Socialism.

                  Only if you define “socialism” only as “the transition period between capitalism and communism.”

                  And I do not. Because, again, I am not a Marxist-Leninist.

                  And it seems like you have some all-encompassing need to label everything, but I would say many people on the left do not subscribe to an individual label like you seem to think that they do.

                  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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                    9 hours ago

                    Socialism is generally a form of society where public ownership and collectivization is the driving force of the economy. Communism is when that process is complete. There are various different forms and characteristics Socialism takes, but they all exist in motion and thus will either move on to Communism or revert to Capitalism. To call Communism a type of Socialism would be to call Capitalism a type of Feudalism, just because both have property owners, but this of course is not a good form of analysis.

                    I understand that you aren’t a Marxist-Leninist. I am, sure, but again I made the very clear case that the overwhelming majority of Leftism worldwide and historically has fallen under the categories of Marxism, which is without fail Communist, or Anarchist. These aren’t necessarily ML specific points of view, if you can point to major non-Marxist, non-Anarchist strains of Leftist practice that have any major relevance, then I can concede.

                    As for Leftists that don’t ascribe to labels, I don’t really care about what one individual is thinking, because I am not trying to prepare them for random internet leftist #18948 with their own specific eccentricities. I am talking in extremely broad and relevant distinctions, like what has actually existed and continues to exist.

        • within_epsilon@beehaw.org
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          8 hours ago

          Weird flex. Meeting material needs can be accomplished under different economic systems. I would say as a Liberal Capitalist you believe in a private property system where owners can take the work of others for their own benefit. I would respond, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat”, but that applies to the capitalist owners in the same way as their workers.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          You can still get goods and services in Socialism and Communism, I don’t know what you mean by “consooming.”

    • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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      22 hours ago

      Liberalism = individual rights, small government/low regulation

      The meme sucks because you can be liberal left or right

        • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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          9 hours ago

          Liber(al), liber(tarian)

          Comes from the French Laissez-faire which as a core belief was that landowners should be taxed not workers. Though literally means let (people) be

          The opposite is authoritarian which is what OP thinks leftism is

    • Reddfugee42@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      New kids are trying to pretend that liberal means centrist instead of its actual meaning which is simply “not conservative”

      • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        That is not and have never been it’s meaning. In fact, conservatives are a type of liberal.

        • MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          No they are not unless if they are conservative Liberals. A conservative Maoist and a conservative libertarian have very different ideologies despite being conservative within their own binaries. This is due to the fact that conservatism is a position in a binary and is not an ideology.

          You can be a conservative and be illiberal.

          • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
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            1 day ago

            Ok, sure. But the “conservatives” that they were referring to are liberals.

              • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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                1 day ago

                I have news for you. The most notorious conservatives in the last few decades (Reagan, Thatcher, Trump, to name the most significant) are all neoliberals.

                Economic liberalization, according to Wikipedia, is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. Policies in service of this include privatization, deregulation, depoliticisation, consumer choice (“the invisible hand of the free market”), globalization (economic imperialism), free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending. These policies are designed to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society.

                You might not realize it, but this encompasses the entirety of your US political options. For example, when Democrats say they want to make housing more affordable; they don’t mean they want a government-driven effort to build housing, control rent prices, or win any ground back from corporate landlords. They mean they want to supply tax incentives to big business and “cut red tape” by deregulating the housing industry. They talk about it differently, but at the end of the day they want and work towards the same things as Republicans, if not in a slightly less obviously fascist way.

                Liberalism overall is a conservative ideology. The way american media uses these terms is completely disconnected from reality. They don’t want you to understand that who you’re cheering for does not represent you or further your views. They don’t want you to understand what leftism is, they just want you to be afraid of it. They want you to pick a flavor of conservative and think you made progress for the social good.

                • MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  Also if you are going to wikipedia for”conservative” you should note the three guys listed at the top argue for different governmental systems. If this is news to you then it’s best to stop here.

                  • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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                    1 day ago

                    Not really sure what you’re arguing or if you even read my entire comment lmao this is a waste of time

      • MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Liberalism is an ideology. Conservatism is a position on an ideologic binary. Uf you ascribe to Liberalism you are claiming belief in a very specific form of government and economy. If you claim to be a conservative you need to clarify what kind of conservative you are.