Going to comment here on the vexed topic of political ideology and terminology. there is so much confusion and debate over words with no agreed meaning.
Will probably repost on a newer site.
There are i think six dimensions of ones political/ideological framework that are meaningful today. They are:
1. Socialism: ie by that I mean the extent to which one believes the physical wealth and resources of society should be evenly distributed. Perhaps a new term eg Egalitarianism should be used.
2. Liberalism: This is the extent to which you believe the rights of the individual should prevail over the wishes/preferences of the rest of society. I am using this definition strictly to exclude economic rights which I think are addressed in 1 above. Unfortunately this is a major source of confusion because originally the term was very much used in the economic sense. Perhaps the term Individualism or Tolerance would be a more meaningful description.
3. Religion: This is the extent to which belief in some form of scripture/religion or affiliation to a church/temple etc directs ones views on how society should be structured. Spectrum Black (sacred books are law) to white there is no religion.
4. Democracy: By this I mean the extent to which decisions are made by the whole of the society rather than by a single person or small group. Spectrum Arbitrary say- full on democracy say by plebiscite down the Black one person dictatorship
5. Nationalism/tribalism: This is the extent to which you put the benefit or pride of your tribe or nation ahead of other considerations
6. Greenism: This is a new category but fundamental these days ie the degree to which it the needs of the environment as a whole take precedence over all other issues.
All people have these components to a greater or lesser degree. For myself I consider i am pretty well red on the socialism/egalitarianism scale, certainly solidly pink, moderate to progressive on the Liberalism front, not a religious bone in my body, strongly democratic, moderately nationalistic and quite green. I am therefore a Democratic Socialist, Liberal thinking, green leaning, consciously Australian atheist.
So much for the broad categories of thought. The next thing is to flesh out what these actually mean.
No time now

Posted by: watcher | Sep 1 2022 0:49 utc | 302