WHY LIBERALISM AIN'T SOCIALISM

A man I don't know asked me on Facebook what the difference is between liberalism and socialism. Chalk up his not knowing to decades of disinformation from the right, poorly replied to by the left.

While quoting oneself can be odious, I note that Lincoln did it; I guess that excuses the rest of us. Anyway, here's the text of the reply I gave, which I think serves as a summing up:

"Socialism is an ideology that would end the marketplace in favor of an entirely planned egalitarian economy. Liberalism or progressivism is entirely pragmatic: non-ideological, open-minded as to means. It would curb injustices, alleviate social problems, and keep the powerful from dominating or crushing everyone else without altering the basics of the existing system. Whether either of works can of course be disputed, but to equate them is a longtime staple of dishonest right-wing propaganda.

"In practice socialism is government ownership of the means of production. In practice liberalism entails some amount of wealth distribution to prevent the kind of oligarchy we have gotten ourselves into here, so we can preserve democracy. Conservatism is an ideology that says some of us are worth much more than the rest of us; the fruits of conservatism in America have included slavery, racial segregation, the rule of the robber barons, and opposition to whatever 'socialism' (such as Social Security and healthcare) gives everyday people a fighting chance. So we can choose among those three.

"Our economy is in the tank because of conservatism: because of the deliberate upward channeling of the society's wealth and the deliberate sabotaging of government economic regulation."

In a related note: In a store recently I glanced at the right-wing mag The Spectator which has an article that seeks to define conservatism. It says conservatism is not an ideology but a disposition to love freedom. Sorry, but that's incomplete: A viewpoint that has predictably opposed civil liberties and civil rights does not represent love of freedom; it represents love of one's own freedom at the expense of the freedom of others.


And it is an ideology, because it refuses to recognize things as they are and instead dresses up unrestrained self-interest in the guise of idealism. May it go under, without taking the country with it!