Socialism vs conservatism Flashcards
Intro
’Ideology’ is a set of beliefs or ideas that guide people to have a specific way of thinking about certain issues. This essay is going to discuss if there are no major differences between two ideologies which are: Conservatism, which is an ideology characterized by support for tradition, duty, authority, and property. The other: Socialism, which is an ideology where the means of production are owned by the community by the state, rather than private individuals, they also try to achieve greater economic equality to provide for all citizens. This essay will discuss the differences of conservatists and socialists’ views on: Human nature, Hierarchy, ownership of property, and the role of the state. This will help us reach a conclusion on whether there are any major differences between the two.
HN explain
One key belief of conservatism is that human nature is flawed. Conservatives are pessimistic towards the nature of humanity to being inherently greedy, selfish, and thirsty for power. This means they believe there should be a way to place limits on people’s ability to cause damage, to do this they argue the state can do this by taking a strong stance on law and order by giving out harsher punishments to criminals, such as long imprisonment sentences, and less focus on the effort to try rehabilitate criminals.
HN example
for example, in 2019 Boris Johnson announced he would put 20,000 more police officers on duty. This emphasizes the conservative view on human nature as it shows there is a higher need for order, security, and the effort to deter crime.
socialist HN explain
The socialist view on human nature is far more positive, in that we are social creatures who are inherently good but can be corrupted by society. This belief encourages socialists to place collectivism over individualism to promote unity and equality.
socialist HN theorist
This view is supported by socialist theorist Karl Marx who argued that by overthrowing the capitalist system humanity could be more unified.
HN socialist example
However, In the 1990s Tony Blair, as a part of his ‘new labour’ policy launched a policy of ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ to try win over long-time tory voters. This showed a major shift away from Labours socialist values to try merge with conservative values to reach a wider population of voters. This proved to be successful as Labour won a huge landslide election with large numbers of conservatists voting for labour, given that this stance has often been repeated in the lead to Labours election victory in 2014 shows that the UK ideologically conservative in nature.
HN overall
Therefore, this dual approach to law enforcement shows that despite there being major differences in human nature between conservatism and socialism, common ground can be found between the two as Blairs ‘new labour policy’ combines the conservative view on strong measures against crime, it also focusses on addressing the causes of crime such as poverty or lack of education, aligning with socialists beliefs.
Hierarchy explain
A key feature of conservatism is how they view hierarchy. ‘Hierarchy’ means people in society are ranked according to status or authority, and the conservative view on hierarchy within society is natural and inevitable as some people are better equipped to succeed in life than others and that they have an obligation to be respectful towards hierarchy for society to function.
Hierarchy theorist
Political theorist Edmund Burke had a defensive argument towards the authority being held by the ruling class where he claimed they could govern the country in an uninterested manner, as the middle class and working class would serve their own interests. He also believes that any attempt to change society away from the natural order is doomed to fail. However, it would be wrong to say that the idea of ‘the leaders and the led’ suggests that conservatists are uncaring. But some conservatists do think that those in better positions do have a moral obligation to care for those less fortunate, which is normally done in the form of charity.
Hierarchy example
For example, David Cameron focused on restoring hierarchal authority and returning to values such as family and religion to ensure stability. This required charities and volunteering to act rather than the government, which fits with traditional conservative values.
Hierarchy analysis
This suggests that the feature of hierarchy is still present in the 21st century as conservatives may not view poorer people having to use foodbanks as a source of shame, but rather pride.
Hierarchy socialist
Socialists believe that society is shaped by the distribution of wealth which can be defined as ‘class.’ This causes many socialists to not take any pride in being British, instead a socialist may argue that a factory worker in Glasgow may have more in common with a worker in Munich than a Scottish landowner, despite being born and raised in Scotland. This is because the two workers are in the same class, who have struggles that a landowner who has been born wealthy will not have.
hierarchy conclusion
Therefore, there is a difference in the views of conservatism and socialism over hierarchy in that a conservatist may believe that it is natural, ensures stability and maintains tradition. Whereas socialism believes that it is a way for the wealthier to maintain control over the poorer.
PP explain
Another feature of conservatism is the strong belief in the right to own private property and that it is a reason humans are free. Owning property is an attractive incentive for people to work hard and allows them to be more responsible; by extending the right to own property, it will bring about a greater sense of responsibility in individuals. Owning property can also be reassuring, as it instills a sense of security because if they did not, they would have nothing to fall back on and live a more insecure life.
PP example
An example of the conservative party living up to their principles of owning property was when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the UK, who strongly believed in property-owning democracy, as she introduced the policy of “right to buy” for council tenants at low prices, which shaped the housing policy for years to come as there was a massive uptake in this. However, property may not be subject to what the owners want to do with it, as a conservative may argue that some property belongs to society and some may need obligations such as heritage sites or works of art.
