Ricardian Socialism

Ricardian Socialism is an ideology that argues the Ricardian notion that labor is the source of all value, and as such labor deserves all that it produces. Rent, profit, and interest in the view of this ideology are corruptive forces of the free market, not natural outgrowths of this system. The Ricardian Socialists argue that the best way for a market society to function is one where associations of workers control the means of production, which is believed to eliminate the inherent inefficiency of a financial drain at the head of a company.

William Thompson
William Thompson was an Irish philosopher and writer known as the "first Irish socialist", whose ideals influenced Karl Marx and numerous trade union movements. He was also a landowner, on which he tried to provide a good quality of life for his tenants, providing education for children, agricultural innovations, among others. After his death, his lands were donated to unions.

He supported the French Revolution and became interested in the Enlightenment, earning him the nickname "Red Republican". He was also influenced by the utilitarianism of James Mill and, in a negative way, by Malthus and Godwin, as well as becoming familiar with Utopian Socialists. He believes in Adam Smith's theory of value, but he strongly believes in Surplus Value, a term which he created and became popular with Marx, in which he states that in capitalism, the product is worth more than the work given to it, that is, a more value. He claims that capitalism generates exploitation and opposes the idea of Mill and Malthus that the increase in wages would increase misery, believing it to be of a capitalist selfish nature, believing in any kind of wealth distribution schemes. He was also in favor of women's voting rights, along with Mill. Other ideals would be the concern with the increase of the population would generate in the increase of the poverty, vegetarianism, opposition to unequal wages, unlimited distribution and equal distribution.

How to Draw
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Friends

 * [[File:Mutalist.png]] Mutualism - Proudhon, we have some disagreements, your usufruct-based infrastructure is a little shortsighted, but you know I love you!
 * [[File: Georgist.png]] Georgism - See, this is my kind of capitalism, even if you're still a little top-heavy with the wealth but you do eliminate many of the perversions of the free market.

Frenemies

 * [[File:Ormarxf.png]] Marxism - Son, I still don't quite see why you lost the market, there are positive aspects to a competitive economy. That said, you have plenty of good ideas yourself, and more than a few of those came from me.
 * [[file:clib.png]] Classical Liberalism - The intellectual environment I grew out of, but don't you recognize the exploitative and inefficient nature of capitalism?

Enemies

 * [[File:Plutocrat.png]] Plutocracy - You're an economic drain, siphoning wealth away from the workers and contributing nothing valuable to the systems you control.
 * [[File:Merc.png]] Mercantilism - Oh good lord, if it wasn't enough to exploit workers at home, you've decided to throw a little imperialism in to exploit the rest of the world, and eliminate the one good part of capitalism, free trade. I really hope capitalists in the future don't end up learning from you and exploiting foreign labor and consumption, impoverishing and enslaving the future equivalent of a colonial citizen.

Further information

 * Ricardian Socialism
 * The Effects of Civilization On the People in European States by Charles Hall (1805)
 * On The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation by David Ricardo (1817)
 * Elements of Political Economy by James Mill (1824)
 * An Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth by William Thompson (1824)
 * The Definitive Labour Defended against the Claims of Capital by Thomas Hodgskin (1825)
 * Popular Political Economy by Thomas Hodgskin (1827)
 * The Natural and Artificial Right of Property Contrasted by Thomas Hodgskin (1832)
 * Labour's Wrongs and Labour's Remedy by John Francis Bray (1839)