Crash Course: Craig Benzine- 'Political Ideology- Government & Politics'

Source:Crash Course- talking about political ideology.

"So today Craig is going to look at political ideology in America. We're going to focus on liberals and conservatives and talk about the influencers of both of these viewpoints. Now, it's important to remember that political ideologies don't always perfectly correspond with political parties, and this correspondence becomes less and less likely over time. So, sure we can say that Democrats tend to be liberal and Republicans tend to be conservative, but we're not going to be talking about political parties in this episode. It's also important to note, that there are going to be a lot of generalizations here, as most peoples' ideologies fall on a spectrum, but we're going to try our best *crosses fingers* to summarize the most commonly held viewpoints for each of these positions as they are used pretty frequently in discussions of American politics."

Source:Crash Course 

This is what liberalism really is: "Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on limited government, economic freedom, and political freedom. It was developed in the early 19th century, building on ideas from the previous century as a response to urbanization and to the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America.[1][2][3]

Notable liberal individuals whose ideas contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke,[4] Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Robert Malthus, and David Ricardo. It drew on classical economics, especially the economic ideas as espoused by Adam Smith in Book One of The Wealth of Nations and on a belief in natural law,[5] progress,[6] and utilitarianism." 

From Wikipedia 

This is what conservatism really is: "Conservatism in the United States is a political and social philosophy which characteristically prioritizes American traditions, republicanism, classical liberalism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to the states, referred to more simply as limited government and states' rights. Conservative and Christian media organizations along with American conservative figures are influential, and American conservatism is one of the majority political ideologies within the Republican Party.[1][2][3] On social issues, American conservatism typically supports Christian values,[4] moral absolutism,[5] traditional family values,[6] American exceptionalism,[7] and individualism,[8] while opposing abortion and same-sex marriage.[9] On economic issues it is generally pro-capitalism[10] and pro-business while opposing trade unions. On national issues it often advocates a strong national defense, gun rights, free trade,[11] and a defense of Western culture from perceived threats posed by communism[12] and moral relativism.[13] Conservatives are substantially more likely than moderates and liberals to distrust science, particularly medical science, climate science, and evolution, and to believe in Creationism."  

From Wikipedia

This is what progressivism really is: "Progressivism is a political philosophy in support of social reform.[1] Based on the idea of progress in which advancements in science, technology, economic development and social organization are vital to the improvement of the human condition, progressivism became highly significant during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, out of the belief that Europe was demonstrating that societies could progress in civility from uncivilized conditions to civilization through strengthening the basis of empirical knowledge as the foundation of society.[2] Figures of the Enlightenment believed that progress had universal application to all societies and that these ideas would spread around the world from Europe.[2]

The early-20th century concept of progressivism emerged from the vast social changes brought about by industrialization and the Second Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century. Progressives took the view that progress was being stifled by vast economic inequality; minimally regulated monopolistic corporations; and the intense and often violent conflict between laborers and economic elites, arguing that measures were needed to address these problems.[3]

The meaning of progressivism has varied over time and differs depending on perspective. Early-20th century progressivism included proponents of eugenics and the temperance movement, both of which were promoted in the name of public health and as initiatives toward that goal.[4][5][6][7][8] In modern politics, progressivism is generally considered part of the left-liberal tradition.[9][10][11][12][13] In the 21st century, a movement that identifies as progressive is "a social or political movement that aims to represent the interests of ordinary people through political change and the support of government actions." 

From Wikipedia

This is where I disagree with Craig Benzine: I'm not interested in what classical liberalism is, versus modern liberalism or conservatism is. I'm just interested in what liberalism and what I would at least call constitutional conservatism, for people who think that conservatism is about religious fundamentalism and fighting some nationalistic cultural war with everyone who doesn't share the cultural and religious values of people who are now called Christian Nationalists, who a couple years ago were called Christian-Conservatives. 

Liberalism and conservatism in their real (or classical, if you prefer) are both based on what's called classical liberalism, or what some Center-Right parties in Europe, like in Germany, call liberal conservatism. 

But in America Liberals are supposed to be antiestablishment, revolutionary, hippies. who want to transform America into some type of socialist state, who see freedom as dangerous and selfish. 

And in America Conservatives are supposed to be Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, fundamentalist, rednecks, who are anti-women and minority and who believe Anglo-Saxon-Protestant men should be running the country, with everyone else being servants. 

But in the rest of the developed world, Liberals and Conservatives are Center-Right. Not Far-Left and Far-Right, as they look in America. 

The Empire Files: Abby Martin- America's Unofficial Religion: The War on an Idea

Source: The Empire Files-

Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat 

Again, it depends on are you talking about democratic socialism, which is a very mainstream political philosophy in most of the developed world and gaining strength in America, or are you talking about Marxism. Which is complete state-control of the economy and society as general. Where the central state tells people what they can and can't do. Where they can work, where they can live and so-forth. What the right-wing in America has been successful at really since the 1930s is point most Socialists as Marxists, even most Socialists tend to be democratic and even Democratic. Where the Democratic Party has had a long history going back to the 1930s, or longer of having at least an unofficial wing of Democratic Socialists in the party who prefer to be called Progressives.

Democratic socialism, is not anti-capitalist and anti-private enterprise. A Democratic Socialist State if anything will use capitalism and private enterprise to fund their welfare state. To see that everyone has social insurance that they can turn to when they need it, but also to provide the basic services that Democratic Socialists don't trust the private sector to provide. Education, health care, health insurance, retirement, childcare, to use as examples. While the private sector would be left with most of the rest of the economy, short of national security, foreign policy, law enforcement, the judiciary, etc. In a social democracy, you tend to have big centralized government's, if not a unitarian state, with most of the governmental power being left with the national capital. But where the people would be free to live their own lives with basic individual rights. Including not having to live in poverty.

When I think of socialism, I think of Europe, especially Scandinavia and Britain and to a certain extent Canada. These are all countries that are all energy independent by the way. At least Canada, Britain and Scandinavia, so they can afford to be very socialist with their government's and economies. And when I think of highly statist and authoritarian third-world countries, I think of Marxists and Marxism. North Korea and Syria, great examples of that. And then you have highly developing and growing countries that use to be completely Marxist states both politically and economically that now have hybrid systems. Where they have private enterprise economies, but Marxist political systems. China, obviously, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Cuba would be another one. But there now two socialist factions in the world. The democratic faction being the largest and most successful.
The Empire Files: Abby Martin- America's Unofficial Religion: The War On An Idea