Political Systems
THE SOCIAL ENGINEERS - COLLECTIVISM
This group considers mankind the raw
material from which to construct a society. The forms of society differ,
the means by which its design is arrived at differs, but what they all have in
common is the notion that one/some/many men should rule the others - whether it
be king, dictator or majority.
AUTOCRACY / DICTATORSHIP /
DESPOTISM
An autocracy is characterized by a supreme, uncontrolled, unlimited authority,
or right of governing in a single person,
as of an autocrat. It is very similar to a dictatorship.
The
key here is that the autocrat has absolute power. An autocrat requires a
massive amount of force (in an army for instance) to exert control over an
unwilling people.
A
kind autocrat is a contradiction in terms. A (rational) benevolent person recognizes
that benevolence is not something which can, by its nature, be forcibly
created. A benevolent leader would seek to undo the social engineering and
return the society toward the sovereignty of the individual. Iraq under Hussein
is a good example of dictatorship, as was Russia under Stalin.
COMMUNISM
Communism means a scheme of equalizing the social conditions of life;
specifically, a scheme which contemplates the abolition of inequalities in the
possession of property, as by distributing all wealth equally to all, or by
holding all wealth in common for the equal use and advantage of all.
The
means to achieve this is by collectivization of all private property. Although
meant to indicate the means of production, to be consistent communism requires
that no individual may own anything exclusively, privately.
Not
the product of his work (thus his mind), nor any personal material benefit he
may achieve as a result of it. All material is centralized and distributed by
legislators, the intention being to achieve equal utility (of material) by all.
Freedom of expression tends also to be mediated by the state for the same
reasons and to maintain the 'integrity' of the collective
In practice communism fails dismally. The only way it can be achieved is if
every single member of a communist society is in absolute agreement with the
above arrangement - and that the legislators are not open to corruption in the
form of personal acquisition or favor.
CONSERVATISM
A political philosophy that tends to support the status quo and advocates
change only in moderation. Conservatism upholds the value of tradition, and
seeks to preserve all that is good about the past. Irishman Edmund Burke, in
his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), compared society to a
living organism that has taken time to grow and mature, so it should not be
suddenly uprooted. Innovation, when necessary should be grafted onto the strong
stem of traditional institutions and ways of doing things: "it is with
infinite caution that any man ought to venture upon pulling down a structure
which has answered in any tolerable degree for ages the common purposes of
society.” Conservatives are usually social engineers by default.
DEMOCRACY
There are two major modes of democracy.
1. Government by the people; a form of
government in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the
people.
2.
Government by popular representation; a form of government in which the supreme
power is retained by the people, but is indirectly exercised through a system
of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed; a
constitutional representative government.
The problems with democracy deserve separate discussion for instance
that a majority can 'vote away' the freedom of a minority. To use an extreme
example imagine that you live in a village of 100 people and 99 of them vote to
take your house. Despite the 'landslide' democratic victory there is no change
in the morality of the theft they vote for.
FASCISM
Fascism is characterized by elements of pride
in the nation, anti-Marxism, and the complete rejection of parliamentary
democracy, the cultivation of military virtues, strong government, and loyalty
to a strong leader.
Whereas
in communism the individual is second to the society, in fascism the individual
is second to the state or race. It is not 'right wing' per-se, but is virtually
the same as national socialism (Nazism); it therefore shares much with Marxism
in its view of mankind as a collective. We all know what can happen when
sufficient people in a state are in eager support of national socialism, hence
its widespread repulsion.
IMPERIALISM
The policy that aims at building and
maintaining an empire, in which many states and peoples, spread over a wide
geographical area, are controlled by one dominant state. Much of the twentieth
century history of the Third World, for example, is of the dismantling of the
legacy of nineteenth century European imperialism.
An imperialist state can also be any other
type of collectivist, but not a type of individualist, nation. In Britain the
growth of classical liberalism can be said to have contributed to the negation
of the belief in imperialism as being 'good'.
MONARCHY
Form of ruler ship whereby a queen or
king, empress or emperor holds absolute or limited power, usually inherited. In
this century most European monarchies have become constitutional or limited,
such as with the British Monarchy.
Such
monarchies often represent a strong symbol of national identity in (some of)
the people's minds (but exist at the expense of all). In some countries in
Africa, the Middle East, and Asia monarchs still continue to hold absolute
power. Under these conditions the state is similar to autocracy.
PLURALISM
Government carried out by a process of
bargaining and compromise between a variety of competing leadership groups
(business, labor, government, etc.). Advocates of pluralism claim that it best
serves the democratic ideal in a complex modern society, in which individual
participation in every act of decision-making is impractical.
According to pluralism, individual rights and
interests are protected by a sort of extra-constitutional checks and balances:
No single group holds the dominant power position, power is always shifting,
and individuals can have influence on policy-making through being active in one
of these power groups. Some claim that America is such a pluralistic society;
other theories say that pluralism is in fact a myth and American society is
elitist. Despite this pluralism is not limited, other than by the common sense
of its participants. Therefore it is still, in essence, collectivist and
adversarial.
PLUTOCRACY
Government by the wealthy, or by a
government primarily influenced by the wealthy. This system is as open to
the social engineers as any other, and is against any principle of individual
liberty. One of the criticisms of the US political system is that some wealthy
people and organizations exert enormous influence over political power. This is
not to be mistaken for a criticism of the free market or of wealth but as a
criticism of unlimited political power.
SOCIALISM
Sharing the same collective view of mankind as communism socialism is a
political system in which the means of production, distribution and exchange
are mostly owned by the state, and used, at least in theory, on behalf of the
people (whose 'good' is decided by the legislator).
The idea behind socialism is that the
capitalist system is intrinsically unfair, because it concentrates wealth in a
few hands and does nothing to safeguard the overall welfare of the majority.
Under socialism, the state redistributes the wealth of society in a more
equitable way, according to the judgment of the legislator.
Socialism
is a system of expropriation of private property (regardless of how this was
earned) in order to distribute it to various groups considered (by the
legislator) to warrant it, usually the unemployed, ill, young and old and
significantly, those with political pull.
THEOCRACY
A state or government which is run by priests
or clergy. A recent example of a theocracy is Iran immediately after the
overthrow of the Shah in 1979, when the Ayotollah Khomeini gained power.
Theocracies
are becoming more common as Islamic fundamentalism grows in strength, but its
influence is almost nonexistent in the West, with the exception of the USA
where the 'religious right' have some influence.
THE INDIVIDUALISTS
ANARCHISM / NIHILISM
A doctrine that advocates the abolition of organized authority. Anarchists
believe that all government is corrupt and evil. Anarchism was a force in
nineteenth century Russia, associated with Prince Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921)
and Mikhail Bakunin (1814-76). Types of anarchism range from pacifism to violent
revolution. While most often anti-capitalist (and tending to more collectivist
philosophies), there are pro-capitalist strains, depending on the view of
private property. The major problem with anarchism is in maintaining the
freedom of the individual. Without an organized objective system of law an
anarchic society might be at the mercy of the criminal and the powerful, with
only personal and communal self defense to rely on. Many questions on anarchism
are addressed by this
LIBERALISM (CLASSICAL)
A term which has changed its meaning, in the nineteenth century in Europe, the
great age of liberalism, the term stood for freedom from church and state
authority and the reduction of the power of royalty and aristocracy, free
enterprise economics, and the free development of the individual.
Liberalism advocated freedom of the press, religious
toleration, and self-determination for nations. It was liberalism that
established parliamentary democracy. The Founding Fathers of the USA might be
termed liberals
LIBERTARIANISM
A philosophy of freedom, particularly from any unnecessary restraints imposed
(or indeed any restraints) by governmental authority. It is central to America:
liberty is one of the inalienable rights described in the constitution
("life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"), and it has always
been what America sees itself as standing for, although it can be argued that
America has become more of a typical European nation (economically and
politically) and has greater freedom simply because it has yet to decline to
European standards.
OBJECTIVISM
Similar in 'appearance' to libertarianism, objectivism is different because it
is based upon a specific philosophy of reality as first detailed by Aristotle
and further extrapolated in the mid to later part of the 20th century by
philosopher Ayn Rand, well known for her best selling fiction novels which
encompass her philosophy in dramatic form. Objectivism supports individualism
with reference to the nature of reality and this differentiates it from being
just another political opinion. It is not an easy philosophy to understand, or
for many, to accept.
CAPITALISM
Contrary to popular belief capitalism is not a 'system' as such. It is the
consequence of individual liberty and corresponding property rights (the right
to own that which you create, or are born owning). Capitalism is readily blamed
for various inequalities despite having never been practiced in fact, with the
closest examples being 19th century USA and to a lesser extent 19th century Britain.
Many people appear to have a very different idea about what is meant by
capitalism. It is not a system of force imposed by people. It is a lack of such
a system. It is what happens when people are free from the force of other
people. In order to have people 'free' of the force of natural conditions
something must be done to make those conditions better for mankind. That is
exactly what people have been doing with the invention of the wheel, of
machines, the production of energy and everything that followed. All of this is
the product of mans mind, without it mankind is returned unprotected to nature.
Capitalism itself forces nothing.
Capitalism doesn't aim at equal ends because they do not occur where people are
free to choose their own paths. Those better off do have more opportunities
(not more freedom), but that in no way gives one person (or group) the right to
rob them of these opportunities and give them to another. Life can be very hard
for an impoverished man in a desert compared to a rich man in a European landowner’s
family. That does not give anyone the right to rob the European and give to
desert dweller.
THE REPUBLIC
A republic is a political system whereby political power is explicitly is
granted with consent of the people and ruled according to law. The purpose of
the government is to protect the rights of the people and in discharging that
purpose it derives its just power from the consent of the people. Hence the
words "we the people". It is not a democracy, nor is it populism or
pluralism. Infact it is quite a strictly limited system where the people
essentially delegate (note - delegate, not forfeit) the protection of their
individual rights to a government of their choosing. The limitations would be
made explicit in a constitution and an excellent example is the US constitution,
which sadly is largely unknown by the American people and constantly undermined
by their governments.
