An In-Depth Review of The Political Spectrum

"With election season coming up, it’s more important than ever to know about the political spectrum." -Orion Songster, 9th grader

You may know a thing or two about the western political spectrum. Maybe you’ve heard of communism or capitalism. But… What do those actually mean? 

One of the first things you need to know is that the USA is not exactly a democracy, like many believe. Since the USA is a large country, it would simply be inefficient to use a direct democracy (where everyone directly votes on things). We use a system called a representative democracy, where we vote for people to vote for us on decisions. We give our trust to them to make the best choices. However, this term is used interchangeably with the term republic, meaning that the USA is in fact a republic. It can also be described as a constitutional republic, since we follow the rules of the constitution. 

The terms left-wing and right-wing are often thrown around without much care or knowledge. Many would describe them with in depth rules on who goes where. But the most basic line is that if you are on the right-wing, your beliefs lean in favor of capitalism or, and if you are left-wing, you lean away from capitalism. Of course, most people who favor capitalism are the same people who benefit from it, so mostly white heterosexual wealthy men are right-wing. This is the same on the left-wing, with most leftists belonging to groups like the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. 

Authoritarian and Liberatarian are also commonly used, although with much less controversy on what they mean. To be authoritarian is to be in favor of the government's involvement or power in society. To be liberatarian is to favor less, or even no, government involvement in things. 

Liberal and conservative are currently common terms, often used in place of words that mean different things. For example, we hear the word liberal being used when talking about a Democrat, or the word conservative when actually talking about a Republican. In basic concepts, liberalism is mostly based on individualism and opportunity, and conservatism is mostly based on traditions and stability. The two ideologies provided the base for what became the left and right wings, back during the French revolution. However, since then, all of these terms have adapted and changed, so we aren’t really able to label them as the same.

Capitalism

• Place on political graph: Right wing Libertarian
• Beliefs on economy: Economy is controlled by owners of companies, not the state. Companies can control costs and commodities to their own and society’s interests. The essential goal of capitalism is to make a profit and gain from it.
• Beliefs on hierarchy: Power is directly related to the amount of money you have. There is a very strong presence of class in a capitalist community, with the wealthy and successful few at the top of the social pyramid, and a mass of less-wealthy people below. 
• Beliefs on government: To a capitalist, the government should be limited in power, with a small role in society, only to protect people against fraud and a small amount of other things. As said before, the government does not control any means-of-production. 
• History: Capitalism has origins in European Feudalism. As Europe grew, so did the amount of merchants. Gradually, mercantilism replaced feudalism. This began as a non-competitive trading system between places, and it worked well until many nations began to sell similar products, creating competition. By the 18th century, mercantilism was not a positive system anymore, only preventing nations from advancing economically. This all happened around the start of the Industrial Revolution, which brought a whole new meaning to labor and commodities. As this boom in technology and supply & demand took place, people began to use their labor for profit. This eventually grew to the point where the modern capitalist society was formed. 
• Classroom examples: Imagine you were in English class, and you were given an assignment to write an assortment of poems. When everyone turned them in, you were given one token to buy prizes. The prizes included candy, homework passes (which cost extra), and an assortment of poems by one of your classmates. Each assortment cost two tokens, so some were able to afford it, if they had gotten enough tokens on previous assignments. But some weren’t. And why would you want to buy one of the assortments? Well your next assignment was to buy one assortment and edit it to your own taste. The Math class next door decided to create a similar assignment, with an assortment of well-decorated equations. Your teachers hate each other (but I think they’re secretly in love), and are using their classes to produce assortments and be in competition. It’s both epic and horrifying at the same time.

Socialism

• Place on the political graph: Left wing 
• Beliefs on economy: Socialism has a basic meaning which essentially is that the workers own and control the means of production. Everyone has an equal share in profit and property.
• Beliefs on hierarchy: Socialism seeks to promote equality and lessen poverty. The system is all about equality, which includes disestablishing class roles.
• Beliefs on government: Many people in the USA believe that socialism heavily involves the government in every little thing, which is only true in some aspects. The government of course, figures out and controls how much resources people can get, however, definitely not as much as communism does. 
• History: As the industrial revolution forced workers at the knees of the factory owners, the idea of Socialism began to emerge. Robert Owen was an owner of textile mills in Scotland, and he was thrilled by the idea, proposed by a man named Charles Fourier. So, he headed to Indiana in 1825 to establish a community based on the ideas of socialism. This community failed, but it left a legacy. Others, inspired by Owen, would continue to experiment with communities based off of these ideas. In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the Communist Manifesto, which is a key reading for anyone interested in politics. Although the book was about communism, Socialism was often touched on. This book revolutionized and truly brought forward socialism, communism, and other systems that would be developed more in the future. As the socialist movement grew, many versions of it also came to be. Vladimir Lenin was largely inspired by the movement, but had his own interpretation of it. Lenin’s views of socialism developed into communism when he established the Soviet Union. This was the world’s first Communist state. 
• Classroom examples: Imagine in your English class, your teacher plans another way to do assignments. People now complete things based on what they can do, and instead of tokens to buy things, you are each given the prizes based on the quality (and growth) of your work. Of course, everyone gets at least one piece of candy. But the more creative and well-thought-out your work is, the more candy you get. 

Communism

• Place on the political graph: Left wing Authoritarian
• Beliefs on economy: Profits are to go to workers based on what the government considers to be a necessity. As Karl Marx (the writer of the Communist manifesto) says, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” Someone with the Communist mindset would say how with Communism, you have the freedom to work in what you enjoy and are good at, and you are taken care of by your community. There is not much need for currency and money spending, since everyone would be getting their needs met.
• Beliefs on hierarchy: Communism is meant to promote equality. Everyone should be given a chance to prosper and be happy with their lives. 
• Beliefs on government: The government provides every person with free resources, including food, clothes, education. There is no concept of private property.
• History: Communism is a product of socialism. And unlike socialism, it seemed to take off. Many countries still classify themselves as communist. The first time communism came into the spotlight was, of course, with Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto. And then, the Soviet Union rose when Lenin seized power from the Russian Empire of the tsars, creating the Communist U.S.S.R.(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). In 1921, just four years after the U.S.S.R. was formed, the Communist Party of China was formed. In 1924, A man named Joseph Stalin took power after Lenin’s death. He led with dictatorship and tyranny, using the Communist system to his advantage. Stalin led the Soviet Union to what is known as The Great Purge, where, according to History.com, around 13% of the population was killed or starved. This is one of the most infamous examples of how communism has always been great in theory, but disastrous in practice. 
• Classroom examples: Now, you’re still in English class. I guess this class is really long. A lot of people liked the socialist community that was put forward, but a lot of people were having a hard time. Some of the work just wasn’t doing it for them. So the teacher puts forward a new idea to experiment with. Everyone works however much they can, and based on the communal effort, your teacher buys a certain amount of candy. They then distribute the candy equally amongst everyone. 

Fascism

• Place on the political graph: Right wing Authoritarian
• Beliefs on economy: With Fascism being one of the most Authoritarian ideologies to exist, everything, including the economy, is controlled by the government. 
• Beliefs on hierarchy: The general belief is that most people are in the working class, with either a single leader or a very small group of leaders. 
• Beliefs on government: The idea of Fascism is that everything is controlled by the government. There is trust that the government will have the best interest of the state and the people at hand. Unfortunately, this also means that ALL power goes to the government, often impoverishing everyone else with no way out. 
• History: The fascist ideology comes from a system in ancient Rome, where if Rome was put into war and was forced into a sort of survival mode and needed to make decisions very quickly, all the power would be placed into the hands of a single person. However, this person was only allowed to have that power for six months, as to prevent a tyrant from forming. Much later, in WWI Italy, Benito Mussolini began to form a movement based on the system in Rome. He prioritized nationalism and dictatorship. This became the fascist party, represented by a bundle of sticks to represent a group, unable to break or be bent. Fascism was also a heavy motivation in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. 
• Classroom examples: So a quick update on your english class. It’s going pretty well. Some people felt like they didn’t need to work hard though, since they would get candy no matter what. Your teacher didn’t like this. So they created a new plan without telling anyone, and then threw it upon you. They decide that everyone has to do the same assignments, no exceptions. If you don’t do it? You’re going in the timeout corner. With corny motivational quotes on the wall. It’s horrifying. Oh, and you’re not coming back. Back to the LOYAL classmates, your teacher creates a (horrible)class anthem. And a class dance. And class posters. And a class chant. And a class ritual. Wait, is this a cult? 

Anarchism

• Place on the political graph: Left wing Liberatarian
• Beliefs on economy: Anarchists believe that a capitalist form of economy would promote an oppressive society and go against freedom. 
• Beliefs on hierarchy: A common goal within the anarchist movement is to remove a concept of class from society. An anarchist society would close gaps between the rich and poor.
• Beliefs on government: To anarchists, the government is the cause of all problems and should be abolished. It is not a type of government with no rules, but, according to Noam Chomsky, more of a response to an oppressive and tyrannical government.
• History: Anarchy came into the spotlight for the first time in the French Revolution. Before the revolution, the monarchy had been abusing its power in many ways. The country had also recently helped out in the American Revolution, forcing its coffers empty. This all drove the lower classes to violent riots and rebellion against the ruling class. As the chaos continued, the people began to form a self-governing society. This is one of the most well-known examples of anarchy. The first known example, however, comes from Greek philosopher Socrates. His writing suggests common themes of anarchy in the society at the time. 
• Classroom examples: Remember the people in timeout? Well they all formed a group and just decided to revolt against your teacher. They run out of the timeout corner, screaming “DOWN WITH ENGLISH TEACHERS,” and scare your teacher into the corner. Anyways, now you are without authority. But, since you are a group of (hopefully) civilized human beings, you make sure things don’t descend into chaos. Everyone has a role, and you all make sure you follow them. But Johnny over there doesn’t become the leader because that would upset the equality you all have set up, even if he wants to. It’s okay, Johnny. We don’t always get what we want. 

Just like any labels, you don’t have to choose one. Of course, you may want to. And that’s perfectly fine. You can choose any of the ideologies I have listed, or do some of your own research. Just don’t choose fascism. If you’re fascist, you’re not a homie. 

Sources:
https://www.diffen.com/ for the beginning research and groundwork
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRuM8JeH/ The inspiration for the article.
Various YouTube videos. I mostly watched videos from channels like Mr. Beat and NowThisWorld
I mostly used history.com and britannica for the history sections.