Greetings all!
This post comes a little earlier than normal because
I will be heading to Atlantic City on Monday, and I felt that it would be best
to create my work before things got too hectic. My school year will be starting
shortly, so expect my posting to become more regular due to a set schedule
during the coming months. In this post, I intend to take a look at the two
sides to power which governments exercise. As a precursor to this, I must
denote the fact that authoritarianism and libertarianism are aspects of
ideology that are independent of the left or the right. Either side of the
political spectrum can exhibit characteristics of both, and governments past and
present have done both. I only plan on examining both and providing my stance
on which I believe is better, using both facts and opinions. This week’s quote
comes from Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the former socialist prime minister of
Spain. While I’m quite critical of some of his economic measures, I see eye to
eye with him on some issues, and admire that he legalized same-sex marriage.
Moving on, I’ll be starting with authoritarianism.
Authoritarianism is a form of government in which the federal entity is very
strong and often large, exerting significant control over smaller governmental
bodies and citizens. Authoritarian governments typically exhibit few democratic
rights, and are generally devoid of much political debate due to repression of the
opposition. However, authoritarian governments can react much more quickly to
problems (as there is no need for debate over what the solution will be), and
can often ensure stability for nations that would split and suffer under more
liberalized regimes.
I myself am highly critical of authoritarianism.
There are certainly benefits to a government that exercises a strong arm, but
that’s exactly it; these benefits rarely extend to the populace. I’m especially
critical of military authoritarianism, the kind of government which is run by
an armed establishment, void of any politics at all. These kinds of governments
don’t even have ideological issues; there is only power, and those who wish to tear
it down. I know that some of you may be confused; many of you likely think that
because I’m a communist and therefore a supporter of big government, I should
love authoritarianism. This is a false stereotype among leftists. Not all of us
are fans of authoritarian governments, and as a Trotskyist I can definitely say
that I prefer libertarian establishments. Most leftists believe in some form of
mass democracy, and this belief runs strong especially among communists.
Authoritarian governments on either side of the political spectrum can have
problems, and I can be critical of both.
It’s fairly easy for me to attack authoritarian
right-wing governments. These systems subjugate people in huge numbers, and
destroy any sense of democracy in a flash. The most recognizable example of a
government like this is Nazi Germany. We all know the terrible things that
occurred under such a government, and why they were horrible. We know why the
system crumbled as well. Nazism essentially called for endless war and
conquering of territory in order to support itself, and once Germany hit a wall
invading Russia the war machine began to falter. Pretty soon, there were people
starving on the street, and there were Soviet soldiers taking Berlin. If you
need more of an example of why Nazism and fascism were terrible ideas, see my
previous post explaining it in careful detail here: http://superjewmclovin.blogspot.com/2012/05/worst-how-fascism-destroys-societies.html.
As for authoritarian left-wing governments, the case
is a little different. It’s not necessarily harder to rail against these systems,
but it must be taken at a different angle due to the way things are run. The
clearest example of a leftist authoritarian government would be the Soviet
Union under Stalin, one that I’m sure anyone born during the Cold War will know
about. Stalin ruled the USSR without much question from the time of Lenin’s
death in 1924 until his own in 1953. Certain things about his rule were
incredibly poor; his collectivization programs forced peasants to rapidly
industrialize an agrarian economy, leading to famine and suffering all over.
The Great Purges severely put down opposition, ending any chance of moving
towards a democratic model of communism. However, at the same time it was
Stalin’s heavy hand and unwillingness to falter which allowed Russia to survive
the German invasion during WWII, completing the goals of the Allies in the
Eastern Front. It’s possible that had the Soviet Union been forced to deal with
democratic process and debate over the war, the Germans could have entrenched
themselves further, possibly making the war a lot more deadly or even creating
the chance for Nazism to have won. Don’t get me wrong, I would have more than
loved if Trotsky had become the Soviet leader after Lenin, and I don’t doubt he
would have handled the war effectively, but we can’t know exact results when it
comes to alternate history. Based on this model, I find that authoritarian
left-wing governments can have some merit to them, but pale in comparison to
more libertarian regimes.
And now I will move on to a look at libertarianism.
Libertarian governments give more choice to their citizens and generally are
quite decentralized, with full democratic processes. However, this can lead to
issues over preserving sovereignty and in some cases political gridlock can
occur. At an extreme, some libertarian governments suffer from the fact that
without enough power to wield, government becomes useless and weak. These are
the first signs of a failed state, and are particularly difficult to
counteract.
Libertarian right-wing governments contain inherent
flaws due to certain aspects of ideology versus control. For example,
conservative ideology typically favors large scale spending on and support of
national defense. This is ostensibly to serve as a buffer to threats and as a
powerful tool for crafting international politics based on military strength.
However, a libertarian regime will have trouble getting this kind of thing
together due to decentralization of the state. Because the state cannot force
money into the military by virtue of its own weakness, it must betray certain
values of its ideological base simply to exist. A libertarian economy is also
inherently faulty when combined with conservatism; laissez-faire policies have
been proven to fail when imposed on a national scale (my example being the
Great Depression: http://iws.collin.edu/kwilkison/Online1302home/20th%20Century/DepressionNewDeal.html).
As such, I do not support libertarian right-wing governments; the notion that a
society where a government should do so little for its people is simply wrong
in my eyes.
I won’t be elaborating too much about why I support
libertarian left-wing governments. I have done it before in previous posts, and
I already intend on delving further into my own ideology in my next post. I
wouldn’t want to spoil the fun of that, of course. I can say this: my main
reason for supporting a leftist libertarian system is because it gives people
freedom, along with all the benefits that leftism strives to guarantee. From
universal healthcare to marriage equality, the ideology and the power structure
fit well together. This is the cornerstone of my beliefs. Once people realize
how much good the left can do, they will choose to side with it. I will say this:
there is a limit to how libertarian a government should be. No matter how in
line a government is with leftist doctrine, if it has no power then its goals
will never be accomplished. This can create a failed state quite easily, so the
government must be allocated enough power that it can enact laws without
trouble.
That is all for this week’s post, and I hope I’ve
provided all that is necessary for you to understand my point. If you have
questions or comments, I encourage you to put them down right here. If you
prefer to contact me otherwise, I would suggest doing so through my email at zerospintop@live.com, my Facebook,
Twitter, Google+, or DeviantArt accounts. Good night, and this is KnoFear,
signing off.
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