Clearing Some Things Up
Many of u are of late equating liberalism with Stalinism. Not so. Not so at all, my friends.
You see, you need a two dimensional political scale. One scale is social matters, one scale is economic matters.
LIBERALS: Believe in more personal freedom, and less economic freedom.
LIBERTARIANS: Believe in more personal and economic freedom. These people genuinely believe in small government.
CONSERVATIVES: Believe in less personal freedom and more economic freedom.
AUTHORITARIAN SOCIALISTS*: Believe in less personal freedom and less economic freedom. These are the true "big government" people.
*True communism isn't supposed to work like that, I know, but that's how it's worked in history, so that's what I'll call them unless you can think of a better name.
That's the general distinction; there are two dimensions you need to consider.
FASCISTS: Taking conservatism to the extreme. Fascists believe in union between the government and the corporation, an extreme sort of capitalism if you will.
STALINISTS: Take the concept of "Big Government" to the extreme. Stalinists are similar to Fascists on a social scale, but different on an economic scale.
COMMUNISM: Ideal communism envisions a transition period wherein there is a short-lived Dictatorship of the Proletariat which oversees the transition to a true communist system. In the true communist system, government disappears entirely. There is no class division, and everyone labors for the good of the community. There are no problems in society. (Remember, this is ideal communism, not true communism.)
SOCIALISTS: Socialists are extreme liberals. They believe in state control over the means of production, with no corporations at all.
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS: Believe in a compromise between socialism and capitalism. These people generally support government programs designed to help the poor, disabled, and disadvantaged, but don't want to get rid of capitalism completely. Most European liberals fall into this category, to the left of most American liberals.
*EDITED; EDITS ARE IN THIS COLOR*
Just clearing up some definitions.
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"Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states...Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Last edited by Zephyr : 12-11-2007 at 07:53 PM.
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