Difference Between Socialism And Liberalism

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Principles

The principles behind socialism involves creating a system where the entire community contributes to the productivity process within a given geographical regions. Socialism is applicable within a single country where people have common heritage of the land and other crucial natural resources, and gear their efforts towards common good. The entire community participates in a centralized method of production where their collective efforts are responsible for enhancing progress and development. The principles of socialism are greatly critical of private ownership of the productivity process, and the government is responsible for providing basic amenities.

The principles of liberalism, however, advocate for the liberty and equality of all people worldwide (Wolfe, 2009). The freedom of each individual and their rights to live as they deem fit is a crucial concept of liberalism, and collective efforts in productivity are only done so with the consent of everybody. Liberalism advocates for a natural right to life, property and liberty without a crushing elite system that always robs the rights of ordinary citizens. The principle varies greatly from socialism because there is an emphasis on both local and international cooperation towards ensuring the freedom of all global communities.

Origins

Socialism primarily originated in the seventeenth century as a response to the excesses and inadequacies produced by the capitalistic system. According to early socialist philosophers, socialism was a way of ensuring that every member of the community can be incorporated in the productivity process without having poor sections of the population. Each person would be able to contribute accordingly, with the entire process owned and controlled by the public with a general view of common good. Socialist systems, though, are characterized by centralized, socialist governments who control the process, but still advocate for community contributions towards the productivity process in the country (Heywood, 2003).

Liberalism, however, originated through prominent revolutions in different parts of the world such as the American Revolution, the Glorious Revolution and the French Revolution. The main philosophy behind liberalism was to remove the tyrannical rule in affected countries that involved absolutism and monarchial governments. The origins of liberalism were a simple response to the established elite system that was responsible for controlling several societies across the world in the past. Liberalism was formally coined by John Locke in the seventeenth century, and it was a direct response to the need to eliminate the divinity of Kings, heredity privileges and state religions.

Scope

The scope of socialism is not diverse because only a few countries are known to have practiced socialist principles. In addition to this, there are only a few welfare programs in socialist systems, and most of the time, they do not assist the collective population but a few wealthy members of the elite. Socialism is greatly associated with the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China where collective efforts are made by the community in the productivity process. The spread of socialism across the world has not been as diverse as liberalism and other ideologies mainly because of the global hegemony of the United States’ capitalist system.

The scope of liberalism, however, is much more diverse than socialism as several nations in the world incorporate principles of liberalism to their systems (Kelly, 2005). Liberal governments had already been established by the nineteenth century, and they have become common in North and South America as well as Europe. The principles of liberalism promote programs and ideas such as the freedom of religion, speech, the press, and guarantees civil rights and democratic societies. Welfare programs are common in liberal societies, and these ideals have greatly expanded in scope and can be found on almost any nation on the globe.

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