Responses to Classical Liberalism 30-1: Chapter 4 30-2: pg. 114-123; chapter 6.

Responses to Classical Liberalism30-1: Chapter 430-2: pg. 114-123; chapter 6

Responses to Classical Liberalism

Revolutionary

• Social Utopians• Peaceful

• Socialism• Marxism

• Communism (later)

• Drastic

Reactionary

• Luddites & Chartists• Violent

• Classical Conservatism• “Blast to the past”

The Luddites and Chartists

• Research Luddites and Chartists on own

• Identify:• Why they dislike classical

liberalism• What were their goals• What were their methods• What key events happened

because of their actions• What was the end result of their

actions

Find these groups in your textbook on your own. Go to the index at the back and look up the Luddites and Chartists

Socialists Value…

• Review• Socialism is any ideology that believes that resources

should be controlled by the public for the benefit of everyone in society and not by private interests for the benefit of private owners and investors

• Economic equality among citizens• Achieved through income security for all through

guaranteed: employment & living standards

• Cooperation is favoured over competition

• But, implementation of these ideas can only be done with a high degree of involvement by the state in the economy

Socialists Wanted…

• Recognized the good that came out of wealth generation• But they were not satisfied with how it was distributed

among the citizenry, especially workers

• Rejected the lack of equality and humanitarianism in classical liberalism and deplored the social injustices that resulted

• Like the Luddites and Chartists, socialists wanted change• However, socialism grew to become an ideology

Social Utopians

Social Utopians

• First promoted by Thomas Moore• His book, Utopia, outlined the concept of an

ideal society

• Most of their beliefs were idealistic rather than pragmatic – they had no interest in overturning the political, economic, and social systems of they day

• Instead, they focused on humanitarianism, wanting to see an end to the appalling working conditions of the day

Social Utopians

Significant People•Thomas More – Great Britain

•Robert Owen – Great Britain

•Charles Fourier – France

•Claude Saint-Simon – France

•Horace Greeley - USA

Social Utopians

• Goals:• Provide education for workers

• Improve working conditions

• These two changes would peacefully end the worst aspects of laissez-faire capitalism

• This will lead to an “ideal” society where everybody is happy

Owen’s Experiment

• 1771-1858

• Believed that the harshness of laissez-faire capitalism corrupted human nature

• He believed that individuals could reach their true potential if given the freedom to do so• Thus education is the key to a human

society

• At 19 he opened his first business

• In 1800, he became the manager of the “Chorton Twist Company” in New Lanark, Scotland

Owen’s Experiment

“It is therefore, the interest of all, that every one, from birth, should be well educated, physically and mentally, that society may be improved in its character, that everyone should be beneficially employed, physically and mentally, that the greatest amount of wealth may be created, and knowledge attained, that everyone should be placed in the midst of those external circumstances that will produce the greatest number of pleasurable sensations, through the longest life, that man may be made truly intelligent, moral and happy, and be thus prepared to enter upon the coming Millennium” – Robert Owen

Ow

en’s

Exp

erim

ent:

New

Lanark

Owen’s Experiment:New Lanark

• First created the Institute for the Formation of Character• Essentially a daycare

• Infants were cared for while parents worked

• Children attended school until 10 years old

• At 10, they worked a 10-hour day (shorter than the usual 13)

• Adult education was also available

• He also sponsored free medical care, concerts, and dances

Owen’s Experiment:New Lanark

• Living conditions were also improved• Houses were renovated

• New ones were built with comfort in mind

• Streets were paved and regularly cleaned

• The village was landscaped

• There were fines for “disruptive social behaviour” (like drunkenness)

• Owen wanted to improve all aspects of the workers’ lives, including their moral character

Owen’s Experiment:New Lanark

• Owen fostered a co-operative attitude between management and labour

• He brought in an incentive system to reward good work• Black marker – bad behaviour

• Blue marker – indifferent

• Yellow marker – good behaviour

• White marker – excellent behaviour

• Thus Owen sought improve society as a whole, and this needed to be accomplished through co-operation

Common Socialist Values

• All socialists agree on• Private ownership of the means of production permits

exploitation

• The state should direct the economy to achieve economic equality for all citizens

• Society should be classless

• The big difference between types of socialists are their method for transforming liberal capitalist society

SOCIALISM, MARXISM, COMMUNISM

Socialism Defined

• Text: “An ideology arguing that citizens are best served by policies focused on meeting the basic needs of the entire society rather than on serving the needs of individuals as individuals.”

• Socialism has ancient roots. The Judeo-Christian belief in the common good, which takes precedence over individual desires

Socialism’s Emergence

• Liberal political parties in 19th century Europe failed to address the desperate needs of working people.• Classical liberalism views poverty as an individual choice

or failure, not the result of social structures. Also suspicious of big government.

• Socialism provides a different conception of individual responsibility & of government.

• Many modern labour governments are based on socialist ideals. Like Tony Blair’s UK government

Socialism’s Principles

• Egalitarianism or equality.  Humankind will be unified and cooperative, once wealth is owned and used for the common good. Capitalism exploits the very people who create society’s wealth.

• Moralism. Division of rich & poor is evil; capitalism is fundamentally unjust. Instead, the ideal future emphasizes peace, social justice and true liberty for all. 

Social Democracy

• A variation on socialism that argues that socialism and democracy can work together. Example: British Labour Party.

• Change comes through peaceful democratic processes like elections.

• Democratic governments should promote economic - as well as political - freedom & equality.

• Socialist political parties compete and win office in every western democracy except the United States. • Argentina Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Colombia,

Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Netherland, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Venezuela.

• Why might this be so? What’s different about the U.S.?

Democratic Socialists of America

• “Democratic Socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few…. many structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed … so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives.”

• http://www.dsausa.org/dsa.html

Social Democracy & Marxism: Similarities

• Sees capitalism as exploitive, leading to social injustice and extreme income inequality.

• These economic conditions have adverse effects on ordinary working people – in terms of physical health, psychological well-being, housing, education, etc.

• Both ask the question: why should those who provide the money (capital) receive all the profits, and those who provide the labor receive none of the profits?

• It is labor, after all, that turns raw materials (including cash) into something with greater value.

Social Democracy & Marxism: Differences

• Private property not abolished, but the public should control the use of property and make necessities available to all.

• Individual rights not abolished but should complement other important values such as concern for others.

• Change can occur through an evolutionary process that uses democratic means.

• Karl Marx said social democrats were naive to think that “enlightened capitalists” would join with workers to form a new society. • Violent revolution was inevitable.

Socialism & Marxism

• Key Philosopher: Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels• Let’s turn to our philosophers notes

• As seen in our philosophers notes, Marxism represents the ideal that socialism evolves from capitalism

• Marx’s Key Ideas• Slave system gave way to feudal economy• Feudal economy broke down with manufacturing, towns,

navigation, middle class…• Industrial capitalism emerged with two classes: the

proletariat and the bourgeoisie

Socialism & Marxism

• The 10 demands that Marx and Engels outlined essentially puts all of the power into the state’s hands• We call this a Command Economy or a Centrally

Planned Economy

Socialism & Marxism

Command Economy

• Government planning and intervention are the primary economic factors

• Prices are regulated by government planners

Market Economy

• Scarcity, supply and demand, and competition are the primary economic factors

• Prices fluctuate depending on the # of goods produced and how they are produced

Socialism & Marxism

Communist Revolution Inevitable

• Capitalism creates huge factories. Workers become concentrated and begin to organize for legal reforms (higher wages/better working conditions). Their effort fails.

• Fierce competition between capitalists leads to new technologies, which leads to lower costs.

• In the competition, some capitalists go bankrupt & have to become workers, and many workers lose their jobs as new technology replaces them. • (Consider reports that U.S. workers’ productivity is going up.

Fewer workers are making more goods, which means technology is replacing them.)

Communist Revolution Inevitable

• Greater numbers of people permanently unemployed. Misery widespread.

• Fewer people can afford the products of capitalists, so fewer companies survive.

• Class struggle reaches a climax.

• Conditions now ripe for revolution. The proletariat, having nothing to lose but their chains, rise up.

Communist Revolution

• Revolution will eliminate private property. No longer will man have the means of exploiting another man. • Bourgeoisie will fight, so revolution will be violent.

• A dictatorship of the proletariat will follow to weed out remaining capitalist elements.

• In the end, a classless society with no more oppression or internal contradictions.

• People will be free to choose how they labor, and can be creatively productive. They will be able to live to their fullest potential. Consider the description in Marx’s Communist Manifesto in 1845:

Communist Revolution:Worker’s Utopia

“In communist society, …nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes,… to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, … without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic.”

CLASSICAL CONSERVATISMWhereas the Luddites and Chartists sought to return to “the old ways” through violence, many non-violent reformers made inroads as well

Edmund Burke, 1729-1797

• A contemporary of Adam Smith who arrived at a significantly different conclusion

• Burke was not a political philosopher, however, he was an influential man

• He was horrified by the extremes of the French Revolution• Flaws of equality, individualism, and freedom

• He believed that established institutions run by educated people were necessary to control the masses

Classical Conservatism

• Thus Burke and many others spearheaded the ideology of Classical Conservatism• A desire to return to the pre-industrialist world

• A rejection of tyranny in any form; whether in a monarchy or less-organized government structure• American Revolution = good

• French Revolution = bad

• Burke believed that Rousseau’s concept of “general will of the people” was unrealistic, unnatural, and dangerous

Values of Classical Conservatism

• Society is an organic whole that should be structured hierarchically• Only those suited to leadership are permitted to lead

• Government should be chosen by a limited electorate with special rights, responsibilities, and privileges

• Leaders should be humanitarian – their role is to care for the welfare of others

• The stability of society is of paramount concern – this is achieved through law and order, and maintenance of customs and traditions that bind society together

Review Activity

• Create a chart in which you outline the similarities and differences between the five ideologies that we just studied

• Answer the following:

Why did ideologies develop in response to classical liberalism? What classical liberal beliefs and values were challenged by these new ideologies?

Complete these two assignments individually to review the material that we have studied in class.

The chart is for review and organization.

Show your completed chart & question for 5 participation marks