Liberal Socialism

"Not to be confused with Libertarian Socialism or  Social Liberalism."

Liberal Socialism (Libsoc) is an economically centre-left to left-wing political theory and ideology that believes that Socialism is compatible with  Liberalism. There is no one conception of what Liberal Socialism is, but rather, many different (sometimes contradictory) definitions.

[[File:Soclib.png]] As Liberal Mixed Economy[[File:Socdem.png]]
Liberal Socialism can sometimes mean liberalism which operates through a robust mixed economy, without intentions of transferring to a fully socialist system. This often pans out as a slightly more left wing version of what is otherwise indistinguishable from Social Liberalism or  Social Democracy.

[[File:Marketsoc.png]]As Socialist Liberal Democracy[[File:Liberal Democracy.png]]
Alternatively, Liberal Socialism can mean a Liberal Democracy that would have a  Market Socialist economy, or a  Democratic Socialist society that would have free markets, minimal regulations, and very few (if any) planning.

[[File:Bernst.png]]As Liberal/Socialist Reform
Another way of looking at liberal socialism is as an attempt to reform a liberal economy into a fully socialist one, or alternatively, as the liberalization of a centralized State Socialist government.

[[File:Clib.png]]As Historiography[[File:Prog-u.png]]
Liberal Socialism can be seen as a view of history as going from Feudalism to  Liberalism, and then Finally to  Socialism. This conception tends to view Socialism as the best way carry on the  Classical Liberal principles of  Equality and  Liberty.

[[File:MarxistHumanism.png]]Liberalism as Socialism
Liberal socialism can also be seen as using the Liberal philosophy that the liberty of man should not be offended and that a person should not be treated as means but as ends, extended to the economy, combined to prove socialist standpoints.

[[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Germany
"Main article: Bernsteinism" In Germany, liberal socialist ideals can be said to originate with the development of revisionist Marxism of Eduard Bernstein who defined the term 'socialism' as 'Organised Liberalism '.

[[File:Cball-UK.png]] United Kingdom
In Great Britain, the development of Liberal Socialism can be traced back to a number of sources of liberal and socialist origin. Liberal Socialism of liberal origin can be found in the theories of the political economist John Stuart Mill, who greatly influenced the political ideology of Social Liberalism which is a type of liberalism that believes that economic freedom can be only achieved through an extensive social state. Although, Mill is noted as going a step further, favoring collectivized workplaces. He theorized that capitalist societies shall experience a  gradual process of socialization with worker cooperatives slowly replacing private enterprises.

John Mill's liberal socialism did not completely abolish capitalism and replace it with socialism, but it supported a mixed economy based on market socialism, including social ownership of private property and capital. Liberal socialists generally do not support centralism or socialism in the form of the state, but support the realization of property collectivization through market socialism of individual workers' cooperatives. This form of workers' community cooperatives can be seen as a manifestation of Liberalism: everyone can join according to their own free will, but if it is not conducive to their own self-development, individuals can leave at any time. Liberal socialists believe that the introduction of collective property eliminates the dependence on workers and employers, thus bringing real freedom to workers. English liberal socialists believe that freedom and equality are mutually compatible and interdependent, and regard the material inequality produced by capitalism as one of the main reasons for the increasingly lack of freedom. Free socialists also generally support the free market, and believe that market monopoly is the inevitable result of capitalism, and only through market socialism can the real free market be achieved.

Liberal socialism of socialist origin in Britain can be found in the theories of the Christian Socialist historian and activist Richard Henry Tawney, who developed a theory of 'Ethical Socialism '. Ethical socialism as a movement saw to justify socialism on ethical and moral grounds, as opposed to material grounds.

Tawney later joined, influenced, and became an executive of the socialist think tank of the Fabian Society which was a group that wanted to achieve Socialism through  reformist means in  democracies ( Democratic Socialism.) The ideology of the Fabian Society (Fabianism) may, in turn, be characterized as a form of liberal socialism.

The term 'Liberal Socialism' was later used by the British economist John Maynard Keynes to describe his political ideology:

[[File:Cball-Italy.png]] Italy
The term 'Liberal Socialism' was popularised by the Jewish-Italian political leader Carlo Rosselli who was influenced both by Eduard Bernstein and by the British Labour movement. Carlo Rosselli rejected the political theories of Marx and favoured  non-Marxist socialism. He believed that liberal democracy is not just important for socialist construction, but also for its realization. Additionally, Carlo Rosseli founded Justice and Liberty (Italian: Giustizia e Libertà) which was a resistance movement against the Fascist government of Italy.

[[File:Cball-US.png]] United States
In the United States, the term 'Liberal Socialism' was used by the political theorist John Rawls to describe his political ideology.

In the United States a type of Liberal Socialism was espoused by the anarcho-syndicalist thinker Noam Chomsky. In his book On Anarchism claiming that libertarian socialism to be conclusion of  classical liberal principles:

A similar view has been espoused by the American BreadTuber VaushV. Leading to liberal socialism to be sarcastically called Vaushism within the Polcompball community.

[[File:Cball-South Africa.png]] South Africa
Anti-Apartheid revolutionary and South Africa's first black leader, Nelson Mandela ideologically self-identified as a Socialist and ultimately believed in a classless society, having been influenced by Marxism. But when in power he supported the country's liberal democratic model, while still taking strong measures to combat poverty, encourage land reform, and expanding healthcare services. He expressed desires to move to a social-democratic economy but figured that it wasn't possible due to the circumstances at the time (the fall of the USSR and the ascendency of  neoliberalism.)

[[File:Cball-Brazil.png]] Brazil
WIP

[[File:Cball-USSR.png]] Soviet Union/[[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Russia [[File:Gorb.png]]
Mikhail Gorbachev was the last general secretary of the USSR who oversaw the demise of the Soviet Empire. Gorbachev was a compromised general secretary who rose to power when the USSR was on the brink of collapse, already suffering economic stagnation, supply shortages, sing the mounting costs of Brezhnev’s Afghan war. In his tenure, he implemented a series of reforms, including perestroika, glasnost, new political thinking, withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Much of his political career was spent trying to balance the needs of various inner-factions between hardliners, moderate/reformist communists, and nationalists. Out of desperation, and from a sheer lack of efficiency from the state-planned model, he made an attempt to reform the country that drew from the experiences of market socialist economies such as the SFRY,  Hungary, and  China, despite his desperate attempt to re-form the soviet system, because of various complicated factors, his efforts to radically restructure the soviet system failed miserably to prevent a complete collapse of the Soviet Union.

The pullout of troops from Afghanistan and Eastern Europe was also mishandled. This led to the collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Revolutions of 1989, along with the Islamist takeover of Afghanistan. In 1991, the Soviet hardliners who opposed his reforms saw his proposal to change the USSR into a confederation as undesirable and “treason.” They launched the infamous “August Coup,” which tried to restore the Soviet Empire, which effectively made Gorbachev powerless since then. This gave the rise of Boris Yeltsin, who subsequently declared the end of the USSR, along with other separatist nationalist leaders.

[[File:Huism.png]] Huism
In the 1980s, the Chinese government countered some political prisoners convicted during the Cultural Revolution, and then opened small-scale freedom of speech. The Chinese intellectuals, represented by Wei Jingsheng, immediately carried out a lot of criticism activities against the government on the west wall of Beijing, mainly focusing on greater freedom of expression, removing official corruption, adjusting prices, and preventing inflation. However, Hu Yaobang, the implementer of the reform, was forced to resign in 1986 and then triggered a large-scale democratic movement after his death in 1989. At that time, the senior officials of the CPC Central Committee were divided into two groups, one group supported the student movement for freedom, and the other group demanded to suppress the student movement. In the end, Zhao Ziyang, the then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, lost Deng Xiaoping's support. Liberals in the party, such as Xi Zhongxun, lost power, and many people were expelled from the top of the CPC. The democratic movement in 1989 was finally bloody suppressed. Hu Yaobang's liberalization reform, as well as Hu Yaobang's ruling ideology, is considered a kind of free socialism. However, this reform has not carried out more liberalization of the economy due to the obstructions of conservatives like Chen Yun and  Li Peng. Jiang Zemin later completed the task of economic liberalization. But at that time, the Chinese people did not live better, the problem of corruption was more serious, and the political oppression was more serious.

[[File:SDA.png]] American Social Democracy
American Social Democracy refers to the American variant of  social democracy. It is the left-wing version of social democracy which is  left-populist.

[[File:LeftAntiCom.png]] Left Anti-Communism
Left Anti-Communism is the left-wing version of anti-communism that is critical of communist regimes from a left-wing point of view. Although, not all are opposed to communism, just what they see as "state capitalism". It's also used as a pejorative term for socialists that are critical of authoritarian socialism and examples of authoritarian socialism.

[[File:Ethsoc.png]] Ethical Socialism
Ethical Socialism is a political philosophy that appeals to socialism on ethical and moral grounds as opposed to consumeristic, economic, and egoistic grounds. It emphasizes the need for a morally conscious economy based upon the principles of altruism, cooperation, and social justice while opposing possessive individualism. Ethical socialism has some significant overlap with Christian socialism, Fabianism, guild socialism, liberal socialism, social-democratic reformism, and utopian socialism. Under the influence of politicians like Carlo Rosselli in Italy, social democrats began disassociating themselves from orthodox Marxism altogether as represented by Marxism–Leninism, embracing an ethical liberal socialism, Keynesianism, and appealing to morality rather than any consistent systematic, scientific or materialist worldview

How to Draw
Liberalsoc_flag.svg Liberal socialism's symbol is a crossed hammer and quill, the symbol of the Czech National Social Party and of the Radical Civic Union which were historically regarded as liberal socialist parties. The symbols of the hammer and quill represent solidarity between workers and clerks.


 * 1) Draw a ball
 * 2) Draw a red hammer and a feather crossed
 * 3) Add the eyes and you're done!

Friends

 * [[File:Bernst.png]] Bernsteinism - One of my oldest friends.
 * [[File:Civlibert.png ]] Civil Libertarianism - Hooray for human rights!
 * [[File:Dsa.png]] Democratic Socialism [[File:Demsocstar.png]] - We're lowkey the same.
 * [[File:Marketsoc.png]] Market Socialism - We are very similar with some minor differences.
 * [[File:Prog-u.png]] Progressivism - We often take a similar view of history, and tend to have a similar commitment to reform.
 * [[File:Ricardosoc.png]] Ricardian Socialism - Weird friend, but I love them anyway.
 * [[File:Socdem.png]] Social Democracy - You are so close, just be a lil bit more like your dad.
 * [[File:Swhf.png ]] Socialism with a Human Face - Good try buddy! To bad it didn't work out.
 * [[File:Pcba twit.png]] Twitterism - A lot of your users are literally me!
 * [[File:BrazilPT.png]] Left-Wing Populism - LULALÁ 2022 QUE O PT GOVERNE MEU PAÍS PRA SEMPRE!

Frenemies

 * [[File:Soclib.png]] Social Liberalism - I like your liberal principles and focus on welfare but you focus too much on preserving capitalism. Mill was still based though, and we sometimes still overlap in the modern day, so I definitely don't hate you.
 * [[File:Lib.png]] Liberalism - Great dad, but why capitalism?
 * [[File:Socliber.png]] Social Libertarianism - Civic rights, welfare, and regulation is good and all, but you're still far too capitalist.
 * [[File:Cap.png]] Capitalism - Markets are cool, but liberalism is not inherently capitalist, hope you can understand that.
 * [[File:Soc-h.png]] Socialism - And I wish you would realize socialism also needs liberalism.
 * [[File:Libsoc.png]] Libertarian Socialism - We are similar; you just take things a bit too far.
 * [[File:Consocf.png]] Conservative Socialism - I like socialism, but conservatism, not so much.
 * [[File:Fabian.png]] Fabian Socialism - I'm glad you like my ideas, but what's with the Eugenics?
 * [[File:Tito.png]] Titoism - Still too authoritarian, but you're pretty tolerable when compared to other AuthLefts. Did you really have to lock up Djilas though?
 * [[File:Marxfem.png]] Marxist Feminism - I like your social justice and socialism, but you are too communist and friendly with [[File:ML.png]] tankies.
 * [[File:Chomsky.png]] Chomskyism - Idk man, you said some pretty nice things about me, but your tendency to downplay the crimes of authoritarian dictators just because they don't like the US is usually the kind of stuff I'd expect from tankies rather than a self-described left-libertarian, let alone an anarchist.
 * [[File:Pinkcap.png]] Pink Capitalism - Not a big fan of capitalism, but I do like your marketing.
 * [[File:Necon.png]] Neoconservatism - Murderous and racist swine! But Vaush and Kwaśniewski support military interventions. Hmm, maybe Trotsky was right all along?
 * [[File:Capcom.png]] Capitalist Communism - Me but more extreme ?

Enemies

 * [[File:ML.png]] Marxism–Leninism - Cringe totalitarianism and red fascist/state capitalist in denial. At least he funded ANC
 * [[File:Nazi.png]] Nazism - You are not a socialist at all, you are just an [[File:Sec.png]] illiberal authoritarian who's also racist!
 * [[File:Conserv.png]] Conservatism - Almost my complete opposite!
 * [[File:Fash.png]] Fascism- Literally my complete opposite!
 * [[File:Plcn2.png]] Paleoconservatism and [[File:Tradcon.png]] Classical Conservatism - Your time is up, boomers!
 * [[File:Hcon.png]] LGBT Conservatism [[File:Homocon.png]] - Why do you support conservative ideas? You know they will come back to bite you.
 * [[File:Confem.png]] Conservative Feminism - Maybe I should stay quiet...
 * [[File:Ethno.png]] Ethnocracy [[File:Cball-South_Africa_alt.png]][[File:NasionaleParty(Apartheid).png]] - Haha Apartheid go bye bye!
 * [[File:Thatcher.png]] Thatcherism - It doesn't matter if you are a liberal. You called Mandela's political party a "terrorist organisation" and refused to impose sanctions on apartheid!
 * [[File:Libfem.png]] Liberal Feminism and [[File:Libertfem.png]] Libertarian Feminism - Female drone pilots and CEOs don't solve anything
 * [[File:Altr.png]] Alt-Right - He is a good representation of everything that I oppose.
 * [[File:Obj.png]] Objectivism - The fuck are you?!?
 * [[File:EFF.png]] Malemaism - Get booted from ANC!
 * [[File:Baath.png]] Ba'athism - Bush, Blair, wait for me...
 * [[File:Wałęsa.png]] Wałęsaism - At least I'm the President now.
 * [[File:Altl.png]] Crowderism - Hitler was not me!
 * [[File:Dengf.png]] Dengism - Let me protest you damn it!

Further Information
For overlapping ideologies see: Socialism, Social Liberalism, Liberalism, Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Bernsteinism, Market Socialism, Radicalism, Jacobinism, Keynesian School

Literature

 * Equality by [[File:Christsoc.png]] Henry Richard Tawney
 * Fabian Essays in Socialism by [[File:Fabian.png]] The Fabian Society
 * Evolutionary Socialism by [[File:Bernstein.png]] Eduard Bernstein
 * On Liberty, Principles of Political Economy and On socialism by [[File:Mill.png]] John Stuart Mill
 * A Theory of Justice by [[File:Rawls.png]] John Rawls
 * The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by [[File:Keynes.png]] John Maynard Keynes
 * Keynes Against Capitalism: His Economic Case for Liberal Socialism by [[File:Postkeynes.png]] James Crotty
 * Liberal Socialism by [[File:Liberalsoc.png]] Carlo Rosselli

Videos

 * Breadtube vs Economics #1: Response to Philosophy Tube on Housing
 * How Privatisation Fails: Railways
 * I Ruin Apartheid by Making it Political

Articles

 * Socialists Don't Want to Destroy Liberalism. We Want to Go Beyond It. by Matt McManus
 * What is a "Liberal Socialist"? by Wendy Cockcroft
 * How to be a Conservative-Liberal-Socialist by Leszek Kołakowski
 * At the Liberal-Socialist Nexus by Paul Crider
 * What is Liberal Socialism? by Matthew McManus

Wikipedia

 * Liberal Socialism
 * Ethical Socialism
 * BreadTube

People

 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] John Stuart Mill [[File:Mill.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] John Maynard Keynes [[File:Keynes.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] Bertrand Russell [[File:Guildsoc.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] R. H. Tawney [[File:Ethsoc.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-AustriaHungary.png]] Karl Polanyi [[File:Polanyi.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Eduard Bernstein [[File:Bernstein.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Italy.png]] Carlo Rosselli [[File:Demsocstar.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-US.png]] John Rawls [[File:Soclib.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-South Africa.png]] Nelson Mandela [[File:Mandela.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Mikhail Gorbachev [[File:Gorb.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Russia.png]] Alexander Kerensky [[File:Kerensky.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-US.png]] Cornel West [[File:Socdem.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-US.png]] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [[File:AOC.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Germany.png]] Oliver Markus Malloy [[File:Cball-USA.png]]

Organizations/Parties

 * [[File:Cball-UK.png]] Fabian Society [[File:Fabian.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Italy.png]] Italian Action Party [[File:Soclib.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Czechia.png]] Czech National Social Party [[File:EdvardBenes.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Poland.png]] Left Together [[File:Demsocstar.png]]
 * [[File:zio.png]] Ratz [[File:labzion.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-South_Africa.png]] African National Congress [[File:ANC-icon.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-US.png]] Democratic Socialists of America [[File:Dsa.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-Brazil.png]] Workers' Party [[File:BrazilPT.png]]
 * [[File:Cball-India.png]] All India Trinamool Congress [[File:Lpop.png]]

YouTube

 * [[File:Vaush.png]] Vaush

Online Communities

 * r/LiberalSocialism
 * r/BreadTube

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