Political Ideologies

A Quick Review of Political Ideologies

Confusion over political ideologies abounds. Americans are not the only ones who suffer from political ignorance (although Americans may suffer more from this disability than citizens of other nations) and the world over is plagued by issues of political conflict and ideological warfare. If something is not understood, it cannot be controlled. If politics is not understood, it cannot be affected effectively. If we wish to affect change in the realm of politics and government, we must understand the underlying ideas behind the conflicting parties typically involved in politics today. The following is a short review of the political spectrum and where various ideologies fall on that spectrum.

The Political Spectrum

The political left and the political right; those are two terms bandied about on popular media outlets all the time. The political spectrum can be laid out to run from left to right. The farther an ideology is to the left or to the right, the more radical or reactionary, the more extreme that ideology is.
The political left is typically defined by a break from the past, from traditional hierarchical social orders, and the advocacy of a more egalitarian social order.
The political right is typically defined by attachment to the past, to traditional hierarchical social orders, and aversion to egalitarianism.
The farthest elements of the political left are often referred to as “radicals”, while the farthest elements of the political right are often referred to as “reactionaries”. These elements are much more likely to use violence in the process of attaining their political ends. You’ll be familiar with communist radicals from the left, and Nazi reactionaries from the right. The theoretical goals of each were different (the goals of communism are certainly still seen to be valid in many parts of the world today), but the means by which they gained and retained power in their respective periods of history and in their respective geographies are eerily similar. It may be said that the political spectrum can be made into a circle, where left and right eventually converge so as to be indistinguishable in practice to the outside observer. Compare the Soviet Union with Nazi Germany. The differences may have been only rhetorical in nature.
Because societies in the past have typically been considerably less egalitarian and more hierarchical, it may help to think of the left as moving or desiring to move “forward” in time, while the right remains tied to the past.

Communism

Communism may be found on the farther end of the political left. Communists tend to be more radical than both liberals and socialists, working towards a stateless, egalitarian social community based on common ownership of property and shared responsibility. Marxism is the most widespread communist ideology or philosophy (as Marxism is thought to be more of a method than a set of solutions). Marxism specifically advocates the use of socialism as a “stepping stone” in the march towards the communist ideal. Socialism is ownership of the means of production by those who labor to maintain the means of production. In other words, labor owns their labor. In Marxist theory, this labor control over the means of production makes communism possible by instilling the necessary values of camaraderie and solidarity and eliminating bourgeois (upper or ruling exploitive class) culture and values from society. For communists, socialism is a means to end; the end is communism. In sum, communism may be defined as the political ideology wherein various means are used to attain a classless, stateless society based upon principles of common ownership. It is the most radical political ideology.

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