Walking on the Far Left

Set about with Mao Zedong’s promise to the public of achieving “all this and heaven too” in what would supposedly appear as a brief yet transformative period in which a renaissance in cultural and social thought could be accomplished, one may consider the cultural revolution as a process somewhat akin to the proposal of a permanent revolution. However, this would appear to be a rather superficial perspective on the matter that clearly lacks nuance. This would be due to the ironically more socially conservative elements of the approaches advocated by Mao’s government which had proven to put emphasis on traditional Chinese values and models for society which revolved around the preservation of the existing power structures that acted as the basis of the existing issues regarding class struggle, lack of individual and collective liberty, and wealth and power being concentrated amongst the elites. This also appears to go hand in hand with the strong sense of resistance by the proletariat d...

In its crude sense when used in colloquial dialect, anarchism is regarded as the operation of a society without the presence of a state or alternative political vanguard to enforce law and govern the people, often being synonymous with chaos and connoted with political violence. It is also clear to note that little is done to distinguish the similarly rooted yet subtly differing ideas of anarchism and anarchy, with the latter being more widely used in quotidian discussion, relating more to a state of disorder and limited organisation of society. However, what is often disregarded is that anarchism and anarchy can often exist in more implicit forms that do not necessarily feature use of force, direct action and political violence so as to achieve revolutionary aims and reconstitute existing models of society (Christoyannopoulos, 2024). It can instead take on a more pacifist appearance. As described in Henry David Thoreau's Theory of Civil Disobedience , an approach similar to what ...

With recent voting trends showing a shocking increase in support for the far right amongst the UK and the significant potential for the ultranationalist extremist Reform Party (along with several other extreme minority groups that are even further to the right) to form the next government, one would assume that the left are all in agreement on one thing: the need for the to come together and present a true socially conscious alternative. To some extent, this is true, however the sectarianism amongst the different left wing parties, as well as the infighting that takes place within individual parties themselves, conflict can arise with regard to this. This largely relates to their individual methods and the ways in which they appeal to a specific demographic and work around a niche. As a result, this is clear to see when looking at the recent implosion of Corbyn and Sultana’s new party, and Sultana appearing to have gone under fire for her exclusion of socially conservative people from ...

It is widely regarded that a society governed by communitarian, and socially libertarian values is perhaps more inclined to accept progressive ideas and function with the general public as its main interest. This would thus explain the prevalence of an increasingly secular or non-religious population in such societies, as well as also the generally anti-colonial and indigenous inclusive values defining their policies. In this post, further observation as to the role (or lack thereof) of theology in politics will be made. With reference to Proudhon's philosophy, the trends in types and distribution of religious societies, the historic and present day factors influencing this will be analysed.                                                                             Proudhon Through the observation o...

  On a superficial level, it is widely assumed that centrists would maintain a comparatively diplomatic and neutral position in situations of debate and political decision making, generally supporting liberal and democratic values as opposed to encouraging the implementation of radical far-left proposals. They would be considered to likely have a selection of both socially orientated policies and those related to promoting economic growth and security of the markets. However, there appears to be a lot more to these centrists than can be observed here. As well as this, I would argue, it appears that a lot of the ideas of a true people-led communism, without the barriers of state and corruption of power, would appear to have a lot more in common with democratic centrist politics than one might assume. Whether this is as a tactical vote, a preference for more pragmatic and less ideologically orientated leadership, having a wide variety of values that span different areas of the politi...

"A school of thought in contemporary political philosophy that treats equality as the chief value of a just political system" This is how the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy defines an egalitarian system, essentially considering equality as the core priority for the successful functioning of a just society. While on first observations this principle doesn't seem vastly different to some of the core ideals advocated within Marxist and socialist doctrines (i.e. in relation to equality in distribution of wealth, land and opportunities, as well as the view meritocracy and meaningful work being the main reason for greater status being awarded to someone), this principle is often far from left wing in practise. This begs the questions: can an individual possessing great wealth (yet not showing any inclination to distribute it amongst others) still be considered as an egalitarian, and why do capitalists in particular like the egalitarian school of thought? Linking back to t...

                                A 2017 political cartoon by Tom Stiglich from The Week magazine depicting liberal snowflakes against Trump. The term "snowflake" as it is used today (referring to an individual who is "overly sensitive", "too politically correct", according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary) has existed since the late 19th century, with the first recording uses being in the 1860s referring to wealthy, white (hence snowflakes) and politically more influential people opposing the abolition of slavery. However, it has only been within the past decade that it has become more embedded into political discourse and used in more mainstream and quotidian contexts, this coinciding with the rise of conservativism and the political right for both the UK and the USA. This has predominantly been by those on the political right as a derogatory term and a means of disparaging against those who value more libera...

So as to put into perspective the breadth on libertarianism and the stark contrast between its various interpretations and application to different concepts across the political spectrum, I have made this political compass based on my personal judgement. While libertarianism is generally considered centrist or centre, it is clear that upon looking at this depiction that many libertarian philosophies appear to be either concentrated around the far-left or far right. This is likely as a result of the clear link between  libertarianism and neoliberalism with social and economic anarchy , and the main aims of this ideology being in reducing the state's influence and ability to impose regulations on the markets and the values and behaviours of individuals.                                                      Generated using   The Political Comp...

The three political philosophies of libertarianism, liberalism and neoliberalism all have the common intentions of advocacy for individual liberty socially and economically in which freedom of expression and the strong opposition to an individual acting in any way within society that is against their own will and values (be that relating to the protection of their own needs, supporting and involving themselves with their community, the situations of political corruption, or to further allow them to gain influence within society, along with many other reasons). In spite of this, these philosophies do tend to clash, the main cause of this being due to the varying attitudes towards the state. This is shown with liberals considering it to be the states responsibility to support the people's interests, and for this to be assisted by democratic values within society, libertarianism to relate to the direction of society by the people with complete individual and collective liberty and lim...