The political spectrum has three main groups: liberals, traditionalists, and radicals.
Liberals want freedom.
Traditionalists want tradition.
Radicals want revolution.
To liberals, freedom means the freedom to think, speak, and act without consequence such as freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, and free markets. Rights are rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people. To define freedom, liberals write constitutions that contain rights. Liberals believe that people shouldn’t have the freedom to violate other people’s rights, a person’s freedom ends where they violate the rights of another person.
To traditionalists, tradition means preservation of the traditions found in the country they live in. Religion and older forms of government are usually part of these traditions. Traditionalism varies a lot between countries while liberalism and radicalism are more the same everywhere. A traditionalist in Saudi Arabia might be an Islamic monarchist. A traditionalist in the United States might be a Christian conservative. Traditionalists in the West are more liberal than traditionalists in non-Western countries.
To radicals, revolution means that past wrongs and current inequality is corrected, that society is divided between oppressed groups and oppressor groups, and oppressor should pay the oppressed. Some radicals hurt people and destroy property to bring about revolution. To radicals, revolution doesn’t end when they achieve power, revolution is a permanent process that changes society. To achieve revolution, some radicals want to overthrow governments and put themselves in power and other radicals want a cultural revolution that changes society without overthrowing the government.
Forms of liberalism:
Progressivism is a form of liberalism with radical tendencies.
Libertarianism is a form of liberalism with traditionalist tendencies.
Forms of traditionalism:
Conservatism is a form of traditionalism with liberal tendencies.
Reactionary ideologies are a form of traditionalism with authoritarian tendencies.
Reactionary ideologies include theocracy, feudalism, monarchism, and fascism.
Forms of radicalism:
Anarchism is a form of radicalism with liberal tendencies.
Communism is a form of radicalism with authoritarian tendencies
Authoritarianism is the opposite of liberalism. What communists and reactionaries have in common is their rejection of liberalism and their preference for authoritarianism. Communists believe that revolution is more important than freedom. Reactionaries believe that tradition is more important than freedom. Violence is the foundation of authoritarianism. Communists and reactionaries use violence to achieve their goals.
Moderates are a mix of liberal, traditionalist, and radical.
Made in 2021.
