Justification of Resistance to Liberalism Flashcards
Classical Liberalism:
The belief in the primacy of individual rights and freedoms to be exercised in the individual’s self-interest. They thought humans were reasonable and could make rational decisions that would benefit themselves and society as a whole. Economic freedom involves ownership of private property and free markets. Protection of civil liberties (at the time, this really only applied to white men). Constitutional limitations on government power
Meritocracy:
An economic system where individuals are rewarded based on ability and hard work.
Laissez-faire capitalism:
Absence of government control of the economy (ie, let it be, leave alone, hands off)
Enclosure Acts:
Common land became the private property of an individual (their “enclosure”), and many small farmers lost their land.
Mercantilism fades:
A money-based economy, providing capital for the building of factories that took advantage of new technologies that were able to make goods much faster (fly shuttle, spinning jenny, power loom, etc).
Impacts of the Industrial Revolution:
The enclosure acts, fading of mercantilism, and traditional class structure fades.
How did the industrial revolution affect the standard of living?
Most people became wealthier during the Industrial Revolution, but the cost of living increased, giving most people a pay cut. A person’s Standard of Living is based on the number of goods and services they can afford to buy.
How did the government help the standard of living in the industrial revolution?
Economic benefits largely benefited the wealthy at the expense of the workers. Governments at the time were not concerned about income inequality, as the economy wasn’t their responsibility (laissez-faire view).
Grassroots Movements:
Grassroots Movements started with ordinary people who attempted to affect, change, and challenge conditions created by classical liberalism. Luddism & Chartism were two grassroots attempts to challenge classical liberal values (albeit in different ways).
Classical Conservatism:
Thinker Edmund Burke was a contemporary of Adam Smith but came to different conclusions. Burke is associated with the ideology of classical conservatism, which had a more traditional view of society. He was horrified by the excesses of the French & American Revolutions, leading him to dismiss liberalism and desire a return to the ways of the past.
Welfare Capitalism:
The term given to classical liberalism combined with governments that used legislation to protect some workers’ rights.
The Welfare State & Keynesian Economics:
After the stock market crashed in 1929 and the world was plunged into the great depression, many felt that laissez-faire capitalism (classical liberalism) had failed. John Maynard Keynes proposed a way out of the great depression by proposing a method for governments to control boom and bust cycles (many believe Keynesian economics was the origin of the mixed economy). As a result of Keynes’s ideas, the modern liberal idea of the welfare state emerged.
The Square Deal:
In the early 1900s in the USA, classical liberalism was the dominant ideology, with large corporations forming monopolies. Theodore Roosevelt introduced a number of reforms to give middle-class Americans a “square deal” and worked to break up Monopolies.
The Great Depression & Modern Liberal Responses:
The 1920s created the conditions that led to the stock market crash of 1929. In response, President Franklin Roosevelt implemented the New Deal, which focused on relief and recovery from the Great Depression and included many new agencies designed to aid recovery and get people back to work. In Canada, Prime Minister Mackenzie King created new social programs and moved Canada toward a mixed economy with more intervention.
The Factory Acts:
The Factory Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament starting in 1833 to improve the lives of factory industrial workers.
Labour Standards & Unions:
During the 19th century, labourers who wished to improve working conditions began to attempt to form unions. Unions give workers the power to collectively fight for better wages and working conditions, challenging the capitalist owners of a business or factory.
Protection of human rights:
In the 20th Century, one focus of modern liberals has been to extend “positive rights” to as many people as possible, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or economic status. Some of these are enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the US Bill of Rights. They include freedom of religion, the right to own property, be treated equally under the law, and take part in government.
Universal suffrage in Canada:
From 1867-1919, the classical liberal idea that voting was only a privilege for a few was replaced by the modern liberal concept that the franchise (right to vote) was a right granted to all men (at first). In 1920, the Dominion Elections Act in Canada extended the right to all citizens of European descent (men and women). The Inuit gained the right to vote in 1950 (but no polling stations were set up in the North until the 1960s). First Nations people could not vote without giving up their status until 1960. In 1988 people with mental disabilities were given the franchise, and in 2002, it was extended to prison inmates.
Feminism:
Feminism is the belief that men and women are equal and should be treated equally in ALL respects.
Progression of women’s suffrage:
By the 19th century, many women started wanting to contribute to the larger society outside of the home. Over time, participation in the public sphere occurred through Christian temperance movements, anti-poverty campaigns, anti-child-labour movements and more equitable divorce and property laws. During the 20th Century, the Canadian government passed laws that gave women more equal rights in marriage, divorce, and abortion rights, and in Canada, gender equality is entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Alberta Connection:
The “famous five” were instrumental in fighting for women to be legally recognized as “persons” under the law. But, they were imperfect, as many of the famous five espoused openly racist, eugenist, and anti-immigrant sentiments.
What are some values of liberalism?
Private Property, rule of law, competition, economic freedom, self-interest, and individual rights and freedoms: speech, peaceful assembly, association, religion, press, conscience, belief, thought, opinion, legal rights, gender identity/expression, marriage equality, etc…
Authoritarianism:
A form of government with authority vested in an elite group that may or may not rule in the people’s interests. Authoritarian political systems reject the values of liberalism.
Totalitarianism:
A government system that seeks complete control over the public and private lives of its citizens.
Communism:
A system of society with property vested in the community, and each member working for the common benefit according to his or her capacity and receiving according to his or her needs.
Fascism:
A right-wing democratically-opposed movement of nationalism which leads to totalitarianism in Germany and Italy in the 1920s and 1940s, respectively. A mass political movement that emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism, and the supremacy of both the nation and the single, powerful leader over the individual citizen.
Absolute Monarchy:
The monarchy has a “Divine Right” to the throne ordained by God. They have absolute control over all aspects of society. Rule of law does not exist. The King or Queen is the law. One could make the argument that Absolute Monarchies were the original dictatorships. The monarch rejects the values of liberalism, and a few still exist today.
One-Party State:
A type of authoritarian form of government where only one party forms the government and no others are permitted to run candidates. They can appear like democracy, but the absence of choice and barriers against change prevent the liberal democratic principle of the people’s will being respected. Some one-party states even include the word “Democracy” in their country name to signal they somehow embody the will of the people. One-party states can give a sense of unity, strength and community.
Military Dictatorship:
Can take numerous forms, but under a military dictatorship, the military controls the country and legislative process/governing. They often come to power in a coup d’etat, where the existing government is overthrown by the military leadership.
Oligarchy:
A form of government in which political power rests with a small elite segment of the population. Modern Day Russia is called an oligarchy because of the power to which many members of the Soviet Union have access.
Minority Tyranny :
Occurs when a minority group controls society, often ruling in a brutal manner, ruling and imposing their values over majority groups. South Africa under apartheid is an example of a minority group ruling brutally over a majority (nearly 90 % of South Africans are either black, coloured or of South Asian and Indian descent)
Karl Marx:
Marx wrote “The Communist Manifesto.” He thought that society, through revolution, could move closer to a state of “Communism.” His ideology was that the collective is more important than the individual.
What were Karl Marx’s founding values of communism?
Collective ownership of resources, land and capital, getting rid of private property, and economic equality.
Subsistence Agriculture:
Only growing for your family.
How was Russia set up for communism?
In the 1800s, Russia was less industrialized than Europe. They still believed in subsistence agriculture. There was a lot of poverty, especially among Russian peasants and ruled by a monarch called a “Czar,” who had the same position as a King. Many countries that had already gone through the Industrial Revolution started to invest in Russia. Russia experienced massive growth very quickly. The gap between rich and poor widened. Many felt this was unfair, much like in Britain where modern liberalism was introduced.
Czar Alexander II:
Freed the Serfs, but the peasants were still bound to nobles. They introduced some liberal reforms which abolished capital punishment, allowed some democracy, and created an elected assembly called the Duma. This was not enough for some, and a group called the “People’s Will” assassinated Alexander II in 1881. A new Czar, Alexander III, reversed liberal reforms, and as a result, people had less freedom than before.
Bloody Sunday:
People in Russia continued to suffer in poverty. In January 1905, peasants protested outside Czar’s winter palace, demanding food and better working conditions. The Czar’s soldiers opened fire on the peaceful, unarmed crowd killing hundreds. It was then known as “Bloody Sunday” or the “First Russian Revolution.”
How did the Czars system end?
Bloody Sunday set the stage for the second Russian Revolution in 1917, leading to the abdication of Czar Nicholas II. The temporary government, led by Alexander Kerensky, tried to implement liberal reforms, but mass poverty still remained and was ineffective. He was very unpopular because he didn’t give land to the poor in Russia and continued to fight in WWI. This set the stage for Lenin to seize control.
Social Darwinism:
Fascists adopted and perverted biologist Charles Darwin’s idea of “survival of the fittest,” where stronger species survive and pass on their genes, and others die off. Darwin’s ideas are scientific, describing evolution, and supported by evidence but “Social Darwinism” is an ideology and not supported by evidence. Social Darwinism was used as a justification to sterilize those the government feels shouldn’t be allowed to reproduce because they are less valuable to society. Forced sterilization was a regular occurrence in Nazi Germany.
How was Germany affected after WWI economically?
Germans were on the losing side of WWI in 1918. They had to pay massive reparations to the Allies as penalties for aggression during the war. Germany couldn’t afford to pay the reparations. In 1923 they stopped paying because they couldn’t afford the payments. Germany printed more money to pay the reparations, causing “hyperinflation”.
What happened to Germany after hyperinflation and the stock market crash?
Hyperinflation, widespread unemployment, and a dramatic drop in living standards. The crash in the stock market in the US hit Germany hard. 5 million were out of work in 1932. The “Weimar Republic” couldn’t fix the problems. The Nazis blamed liberalism & democracy, and many Germans agreed because things were NOT getting better, despite a liberal government.
What was the first incident of Hitler’s attempt to rise to power?
Adolf Hitler began travelling to beer halls giving speeches in the 1920s. With his Nazi thugs, he tried to seize power in 1923 during the “Beer Hall Putsch”. The putsch failed, and Hitler was jailed - while in prison wrote “Mein Kampf” outlining his fascist beliefs. The Nazi party was banned in Germany at this point.
How did Hitler react after his imprisonment?
Hitler promised to practice politics using legal means and was released from prison in 1924. Mein Kampf’s memoir published in 1925. The ban on the Nazi party was lifted and it starts to grow rapidly and gain in popularity Hitler blames the problems of Germany on the democratic government. Also included certain ethnic groups and other minority groups as scapegoats for blame.
Censorship in Nazi Germany:
Anti-Nazi newspapers shut down; the government-controlled what appeared in newspapers, radio, and on news reels. They banned and burned books that were “un-German” and were controlling what soldiers wrote home during WWII.
Cult of the Leader & Vision of Nazi Germany:
Creating an idealized or heroic image of a leader through unquestioning praise and flattery. Hitler carefully crafted his image and even had his own personal photographer to follow him around.
Rewriting School Curriculum and Indoctrination in Nazi Germany:
Girls were brainwashed into being good wives and mothers. Boys were prepared to be effective soldiers. All teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers’ Association, and Jewish teachers were fired. Teachers had to attend summer school to learn a new curriculum; textbooks were rewritten, especially history and biology, with sections on eugenics added to reflect Aryan racial supremacy and anti-Semitic ideas. Academic subjects were downgraded, mandatory physical fitness for at least 2 hours a day was added, and girls studied home ec, eugenics and physical education.
Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls:
Designed to further the indoctrination girls and boys received at school into believing the beliefs and ideals of the Nazi regime. Boys were trained to be future soldiers, and these programs were mandatory from 1936 for 10-17-year-olds. Girls were taught to be housewives and mothers. The programs were mandatory from 1939 on for girls 10-14 in the Young Girls League and from 14-18 in the League of German Girls.
Scapegoating:
Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, concentration and extermination camps
1935 - Nuremberg Laws:
Defined who was a Jew and who wasn’t.
1938 - Kristallnacht:
The “night of the broken glass.” Jewish shops were looted, smashed, beaten up, and murdered.
Concentration and extermination camps:
Jews were sent to concentration and extermination camps.
Rallies and Powerful Speeches in Nazi Germany:
The Nazis often held rallies with tens of thousands of people in attendance. The Nazis even set up a Nazi Party film office to make “official” films of the rallies. There were also official books released with photographs and full texts of the speeches given at the rallies.
