The Aquarian Agrarian: Political Science

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Friday, January 22, 2021

Letter to Political Science Professor David T. Canon on Constitutional Law

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. First and Second E-Mail, Part 1: On the First and Fourth Amendments, Technology, Security, and the Air Force

3. First and Second E-Mail, Part 2: Elastic Clause and Commerce Clause Interpreted Overly Broadly

4. First and Second E-Mail, Part 3: Advice for Democrats

5. Third E-Mail: McCulloch v. Maryland and Congressional Banking Powers

6. Post-Script

Content

1. Introduction

The following is an edited version comprised of excerpts from three e-mails which I sent to Professor David T. Canon, who teaches political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and taught me some time between 2005 and 2009.
The e-mails were sent on January 21st, 2021.

My conversation with Professor Canon began when I sent him the following infographic, which I published several weeks ago, on January 3rd, 2021.

http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/01/what-is-congress-allowed-to-do-and-what.html

I suggested that the infographic could serve as a valuable teaching tool for his political science students, when it comes to learning different viewpoints regarding Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution for the United States. This is the section of the Constitution which outlines the powers of Congress.

Professor Canon told me that if my interpretation of the Constitution were taken seriously, then the U.S. Air Force, laws allowing police to tap terrorists' phones or track them on the internet, and First Amendment protections for broadcast media and internet publications, would not be allowed to exist.
Canon also said that the U.S. would be unable to compete and deal with the modern world, if the Constitution were not written in order to be interpreted broadly - and evolve with time - instead of narrowly.
Canon also made reference to the Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland - which established the constitutionality of the First National Bank - as a precedent recognizing the legitimacy of applying the Necessary and Proper Clause to create new departments which may not have been specifically authorized in Article I Section 8.

I wrote the following responses, to explain my own view of how the Constitution should be interpreted with regard to the duly delegated powers of Congress. In these three e-mails to Professor Canon, I aimed to articulate a view of constitutional interpretation which combines left-wing and right-wing views.
I believe that the best way forward, to achieve needed reforms to the body of federal law (the U.S. Code), is to pursue constitutional amendments that will achieve reforms by enshrining them in the Constitution permanently.
This strategy would be used in place of: 1) temporary measures, 2) Band-Aid solutions, 3) executive orders, 4) presidential signing statements, 5) parliamentary procedures which eliminate the need for supermajorities unfairly, 6) overuse of presidential authority to reorganize the executive branch, 7) inappropriate congressional delegation of powers to the president or to independent or private agencies, and 8) other questionably constitutional ways to pass laws.
I support adopting the structure and rhetoric of the originalist interpretation of the Constitution, and using it to advance the legal goals which are held by the progressives and the Left. That is, only those which do not conflict with a libertarian interpretation of the traditional originalist viewpoint; i.e., one which strongly values individual civil liberties, freedom of expression, and due process.

The first segment of text below, consists of the text from the first two e-mails. Excerpts from the second e-mail have been attached to the first e-mail, and are seen in [brackets].

The second segment of text consists of the third e-mail. That e-mail was written after reviewing the facts of McCulloch v. Maryland.

The section headings were not included in the original e-mails.

2. First and Second E-Mail, Part 1: On the First and Fourth Amendments, Technology, Security, and the Air Force

I do not believe that Congress's powers preclude an air force. Nor do I believe that changing technology necessitates new laws or new powers, or means that old powers need to be updated or expanded.

It is easily justifiable to have an Air Force, or even a Space Force, because Article I Section 8 specifically calls for providing for the common defense.

My view is that the Necessary and Proper Clause do not give Congress its current powers. The mainstream view today is that Congress can basically give itself whichever powers it deems necessary and proper for promoting the public welfare. My view is that Congress has only those powers which the people grant it, which are necessary and proper in regards to pursuing the ends specifically enumerated in Article I Section 8.

The fact that an Air Force isn't mentioned there, doesn't mean that the common defense clause doesn't cover airborne military operations.

The fact that terrorists use the internet or the phone, doesn't mean that the Constitution prevents police from getting a warrant from a judge which specifically allows them to get phone records or internet records. [Parts of the Patriot Act may have been appropriate, due to new technologies, but only if they did not violate due process protections. And the Department of Homeland Security could have been much more easily justifiable as Constitutional if its powers had been exercised by the Department of Defense, or the Department of Justice, which existed since the 1790s.]

The fact that terrorism laws needed to be updated, justified a small percentage of what the Patriot Act accomplished. But by and large, the need to update those laws, was used to [justify] overturn[ing] Habeas Corpus [and ignoring the due process rights of people accused of terrorism].

You're correct that the Constitution doesn't allow police to tap phones. But that's a good thing, and the limitations imposed by the Constitution should have prevented wiretapping. The fact that technology is changing, doesn't mean we should validate the Patriot Act, and give up struggling against the treasonous Alien and Sedition Act, which has more or less created a free speech chilling effect upon the expression of political speech, and upon activism and protect.

3. First and Second E-Mail, Part 2: Elastic Clause and Commerce Clause Interpreted Overly Broadly

I understand the view that our society would be held back, in some sense, but I don't buy it. The voting booth is not a time machine. I do believe that several constitutional amendments are needed, but based on my reading of history, constitutional amendments have not been the major reason why the federal government has expanded.

You're correct that the Commerce Clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause – and also the General Welfare Clause – have been broadly interpreted, and that that's one of the causes. Another is Congress handing its constitutional powers over to the president without cause (as in the power to make war). Another is the reorganization authority of the president. This power to reorganize executive departments, has been interpreted to allow the president to “reorganize” entire sectors of the economy into-under his control, after Congress has assumed it has powers it doesn't have, and hands it over to the president. [The presidential power to reorganize cabinets is not supposed to extend to powers which he did not already have. But it has been used that way.] And as long as the Supreme Court doesn't stop them, this keeps going.

As I explained in the infographic, the military powers justify occupying lands essential to defense. Occupying land justifies managing it, and farming on it. Farming on land justifies regulating food and agriculture, establishing an F.D.A., and regulating environment and energy at the federal level.

So I'm actually saying that there is a constitutional rationale for federal departments not originally prescribed by the Constitution. I'm just saying that Democrats aren't currently using the best argument for growing the government. That's why the E.P.A. is toothless.

That's why I'm suggesting that people study Article I Section 8, and the views I've expressed in this letter. I think we should be expanding the Unenumerated Rights protected by the 9^th Amendment, instead of the Unenumerated Powers of Congress (which arguably don't exist). I think this will lead to more successful, and more permanent, legislation, as opposed to the temporary fixes and Band-Aid half-solutions.

Teaching people how to interpret the Constitution for themselves, would be a lot more effective than teaching people that the Constitution is an outdated document. It's true that the Constitution does leave slavery in place, because of the 13^th Amendment, but that amendment can itself be amended. There hasn't been a new amendment in 29 years. It's time we not only amend the Constitution, but also teach people how to amend it (a process which has historically taken as short as 6 months). If people had been less afraid of the Constitution, maybe the 13^th Amendment would have been fixed by now.

Until Article I Section 8 is amended - in a way that specifically authorizes the Congress to exercise sole authority on the issues of environment, energy, health, retirement, welfare, and education; and in a way that the states cannot intervene with federal regulations – I predict that the E.P.A. and H.H.S. will remain largely powerless whenever there is a Republican president, and that Social Security will remain unstable.

4. First and Second E-Mail, Part 3: Advice for Democrats

These programs and departments are financially unstable because they are founded on ground which is not constitutionally firm. It is not the Republicans which have prevented Democrats from having the federal government do what they want, but rather, it is the Constitution which has established these limitations.

Until Democrats learn to be proficient in constitutional interpretation, I predict that the E.P.A. will remain toothless, environmental laws and health insurance programs will be easy to overturn, the Democrats will continue to waste years and trillions of dollars on programs that presidents can easily ignore, and governors and the Supreme Court will continue to veto and reject unconstitutional new uses of power by the Congress.

The time for Democrats to scream like babies in the congressional chamber, demanding that a vote be taken which they are not allowed to take (i.e., regulating gun control, therein violating the limits set by the Second Amendment) is over.

Democrats need to understand how Congress's powers are granted – and understand different views about where its authority comes from - and they need to use better justifications for empowering the Congress to take action. I assure you, there is a way to do that.

Until that happens, the Democratic Party will be giving the impression, to young legislators and activists, that if they want the federal government to have a new power, all they need to do is beg really, really hard for the Congress to start doing it. Instead of citing, in the bill, specifically, where in Article I Section 8 the authority comes from, for Congress to do it.

The Necessary and Proper Clause / Elastic Clause, the General Welfare Clause, and the Commerce Clause, are not sufficient to justify the current set of powers currently wielded by the federal government. They have all been interpreted in too broad a manner, while the definitions of the terms “regulate” and “welfare” have been widely debated.

If Congress has these powers, then what are the powers of the state governments? Solely to hire police, in order to enforce the uniform federal law which Congress hands down? Are there no issues, or sectors of the economy, which the states have sole or exclusive authority to regulate?

I was under the impression that all powers not expressly delegated to the Congress are reserved to the states or to the people (10^th Amendment), and that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall not be construed to deny or disparage the rights retained by the people (9^th Amendment). The idea that the federal government can legislate upon any and all things that are mentioned - or even barely referenced in passing - in the Constitution, then we destroy what the 9th Amendment was supposed to protect.

The fact that the federal government has the authority to "establish Post Roads" does not mean that it has the authority to build and maintain a National Highway System. Establishing post roads is different from building them. Just like the exclusive federal authority to establish a uniform set of rules regarding naturalization, does not mean that the federal government has to enforce those rules. Or establish I.C.E. for those purposes. And it doesn't mean that the federal government gets to regulate immigration however it pleases. The states still retain some authority. If liberals weren't afraid of the Constitution, one of them would have thought of this by now. By now, sanctuary states and sanctuary cities could have been obviously constitutional, and independent so that the federal government doesn't fund them. But we don't have that because we insist on preserving monarchical, tyrannical levels of executive power in the presidency, and corrupt misinterpretations of the Constitution by Congress.

If we go on thinking that the federal government can do whatever it wants, then we should expect someone to be elected every 4 or 8 years who promises to either dismantle these unconstitutional programs, or else use them for evil. Perhaps it is best that they be dismantled peacefully, before they can be used for evil, or left powerless, by a future administration.

If you disagree with me, then I will run into the congressional chamber - like a progressive legislator, or a right-wing gun nut - and scream to the federal government, until they grant themselves a new power to take away your coffee mug, and give it to me. With the rationale that it vaguely (generally) promotes my well-being, so it qualifies as general welfare. That was a joke, but this is what liberals think the General Welfare Clause actually means. They don't care that the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause, and Due Process, would stop me from taking your coffee mug, for doing nothing but disagreeing with me. They only know that those limitations were imposed by slave owners, therefore government should be able to steal from anyone it pleases and give it to anyone else! And that is why we have both social welfare and corporate welfare.

This shit has got to stop. If you don't want people running into Congress screaming with guns, then we will have idiot Democratic legislators screaming for new authorities to take the people's rights away. We need a more robust and comprehensive teaching and debate concerning Article I Section 8.

I hope I have expressed at least one thought here, which is not typical of the "originalist" interpretation of the Constitution. I believe that natural rights, human rights, and civil liberties would be viewed as one and the same, if we fully understood and adopted the sentiment contained within the 9th Amendment.

5. Third E-Mail: McCulloch v. Maryland and Congressional Banking Powers

The Supreme Court was correct to establish that agencies which are necessary and proper to create, because of the powers enumerated in Article I Section 8, are constitutional. I do not dispute that.

But it could be argued that the First National Bank was not authorized by Article I Section 8 in the first place, because a central bank would not have been necessary to exercise all the banking powers listed therein.

The banking powers delegated to Congress consist of:

- the authority to coin and issue currency (done by mints)
- the authority to regulate bankruptcies (done by Congress)
- the authority to lay and collect taxes, (done by Congress & the I.R.S.)
- the authority to borrow money "on the credit of the United States".

A bank is arguably not "necessary and proper" to put into effect those four powers. Borrowing money on the credit of "the United States" might even refer to Congress itself.

That might not make sense. But there are only a few entities which could be saddled with public debt: 1) Congress, 2) the Treasury Dep[artmen]t, or 3) the people. And it is popularly said and taught that the people do not directly own the public debt.

But then again, Congress may not own the debt, because congressional oaths of office are not taken in writing, which calls into question whether congressmen have any financial obligation to support the Constitution or represent their constituents.

Additionally, the fact that the Congress has the power to do something, does not necessarily mean that it should. We have a national bank, not to pay our bills, but to manage being in debt. The fact that Congress has authority to borrow money on the credit of the United States, does not necessarily mean that the Congress should exercise that authority. Can does not equal should.

6. Post-Script

Please see the following articles, which I wrote, to learn more about how I believe Article I Section 8 of the Constitution should be interpreted:

- "How to Easily and Permanently Memorize the Enumerated Powers of Congress" (February 2020)
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2020/02/how-to-easily-and-permanently-memorize.html

- "What is Congress Allowed to Do and What is it Not Allowed to Do (Without an Amendment)?" (January 2021)
http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/01/what-is-congress-allowed-to-do-and-what.html

E-Mails Written on January 21st, 2021

Introduction Written on January 22nd, 2021

Published on January 22nd, 2021

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Encyclopedia of Economic Systems and Key Terms in Political Theory

In celebration of this, my 400^th article published to the Aquarian Agrarian blog (in its eight-year history), I have decided to start an encyclopedic dictionary of important political and economic systems and terms.

I have begun below with the fifty words I felt most important to include first, but I plan to augment this list with readers' suggestions (perhaps stopping at 100). Feel free to comment below with ideas about which terms I should add, and do not hesitate to debate the definitions I have used.

While the definitions you see here may not match those in the Oxford English Dictionary or Merriam-Webster's, I have provided my own definitions, which are based on and influenced by others' definitions. I have done this in order to provide more precise meanings for the terms contained herein; and I have also included more policy-specific connotations and explanations of each term (as well as associated schools, tendencies, theorists, and philosophers).

You will not find biographies of the individual people, mentioned under the “see also” terms, in this article. Nor will you find definitions for every single one of the “see also” political terms within this article; you may wish to consult other sources for definitions of terms not defined here.

I have tried to make the first “see also” terms reflect the most closely associated labels to the term being defined. The last “see also” terms listed, on the other hand, reflect either the least closely associated labels, or an “opposite” with which it is commonly paired, because it is actually somewhat similar to that “opposite”. I did not include any diametric opposites, nor significantly different terms, under “see also”.

It would be difficult to understand the definitions of some of the terms contained below – especially “socialism” - without first understanding the classical economic definitions of “the means of production” and “the factors of production”.

Means of Production

The resources and facilities which are used to produce goods. Includes large tools and machine parts and machines, factories and plants, and farms and the soil. Those who lend and rent-out MOP are capitalists and bourgeois; those who borrow and rent MOP are in the proletarian class. Distinct from the factors of production. See also: capital goods.

Factors of Production

The three classical economic factors of production; land, labor, and capital. Distinct from, but includes, the means of production.

Encyclopedia of Terms

Anarchism

The absence of an “archon” that is, the absence and abolition of dictatorship, rulership, control, aggression, and hierarchy; and often also exploitation, and exclusionary, exclusive private property ownership. See also: anarchy, anideotism (anti-propertarianism), statelessness.

Anarcho-Communism

A stateless system in which land is managed in common and owned by no one, in which there are no states, borders, classes, nor money. See also: anarchism, Marxism, pure communism, social anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism.

Anarcho-Syndicalism

A stateless system which focuses on abolishing private property in the means of production, abolishing the the wage system, and establishing democratic self-management of workers in as many workplaces as possible. See also: autonomism, operaismo.

Anarchy Without Adjectives

The belief that all schools and tendencies of anarchism should work together against states. See also: Paul Emile de Puydt, Rudolf Rocker, Voltairine deCleyre, Kurt and John Zube, Karl Hess, synthesis anarchism, syncretic anarchism, panarchy / panarchism, polyarchism, personarchy, integral anarchism, and the Alliance of the Libertarian Left.

Autarky

A closed economic system in which a country tries to be economically and productively independent and self-reliant. Distinct from autarchism. See also: protectionism, corporatism, ultra- nationalism, fascism, dirigism, tyranny, oligarchy.

Authoritarianism

A political system in which control and order is enforced through obedience of authority figures, usually in a highly structured, hierarchical, and complex chain of command. See also: tyranny, fascism, corporatism, totalitarianism.

Autonomism

A form of worker organization which focuses on abolishing the the wage system, and establishing democratic self-management of workers in as many workplaces as possible, but which also strongly protects the rights and independence of individuals in the workplace. See also: Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), workerism / operaismo, libertarian socialism, anarcho-syndicalism, anarcho-communism.

Capitalism

An economic system in which the means of production are owned and operated by private owners, usually on a for-profit basis. Entails the collection of rent, interest, and profit by private owners; and supports minimal restraint upon private transactions. See also: classical liberalism, corporatism, free market system, libertarianism.

Classical Liberalism

A political system in which the powers and authorities of government are limited and diffused, and in which duly delegated powers are shared, and check and balance one another. See also: democratic republic, libertarianism, fusionism.

Collectivism

The belief that the community, or groups of people, or multiple people, always matter more than the needs or values of any one particular person (or fraction of the community or group). See also: communitarianism, communism, socialism.

Communism

An economic system in which land (and usually also the means of production) are seen as primarily belonging to “the commons”; to nature and/or to the community. Marx called his book “The Communist Manifesto”, and his philosophy Communism, only at the urging of the Communist League, which commissioned him to write the book. See also: Marxism, libertarian communism, Bookchinism, pure communism.

Conservatism

The belief that socio-cultural norms and traditions; funds and resources; and/or progress, should be saved and conserved. Can include right-wing traditionalist religious “social conservatives”, but also liberal conservatives and progressive conservatives. See also: nationalism, right-wing populism, free market system.

Corporatism

A political and economic system in which production, distribution, and/or ownership is mostly performed by corporations. Usually also involves the control of policy and law enforcement by corporations, and promotes a conception of the people into a corporate “body politic” which is synonymous, and at one, with government and state, as well as community, collective, and/or nation. Usually involves the subjugation of competition and cooperation, especially when they interfere with the state, and/or with the dominance of well-established, state-approved firms. Includes left-wing variants such as social corporatism, and right- wing variants such as “crony corporatism” / “crony capitalism”. See also: corporativism, corporative federalism, fascism, and the social contract.

Democracy

Decision-making, and management of society, by the majority of the people. Includes first-past-the-post simple majority democracy, democratic-republicanism, supermajoritarian democracy, social democracy, progressive democracy, participatory democracy, and many other varieties. See also: neoliberalism, cooperative federalism.

Democratic Centralism

A system in which a central government controls resources on the basis of majority rule. Lenin imagined that centralization of resources and centralization of decision-making would lead to decentralization of resources and a more equitable allocation thereof. See also: Leninism, Marxism, Soviet communism, council communism, cooperative federalism, democratic republic, mutualism.

Democratic Socialism

Democratic decision-making and management which pursues socialist aims, often including the centralization of resources which are dominated by monopolies, whether natural or artificial. These usually include banks, farmlands, oil fields and energy plants, and railroads. See also: democratic confederalism, democratic federalism, cooperative federalism, social democracy.

Dirigism

An economic system in which production and/or distribution are mostly directed by the government or state. See also: command and control economy, fascism, protectionism.

Fascism

A political system which combines ultra-nationalism with racial and/or religious prejudice, and usually also theocracy (“clerical fascism”). Stems from the ancient Roman belief that government and national identity are necessary to bind people together – in the “fasces” (an axe bound together with a bundle of wooden rods, a symbol of power and order) in order to prevent conflict between warring factions of society. Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini described fascism as “the merger of state and corporate power”. Features a strong autocratic figurehead, strict regimentation and control, and usually also expansionist or imperialist ambitions. In a general sense, can also refer to any or all of the imperialist, ultra- nationalist Axis Powers of WWII, including Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, whose philosophy was known as “Falangism”. “Soft fascist” refers to anyone whose views lean towards separatism, hierarchy, discrimination, or special treatment on the basis of national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, or social views. See also: corporatism, corporativisim, dirigism, tyranny, totalitarianism.

Federalism

A system in which governmental jurisdictions besides the central government retain duly-delegated spheres of policy influence in the areas they control. Types of federalism include dual federalism, triple federalism, cooperative federalism, and corporative federalism. Might refer to more, or less, central control, depending on the context in which it is used. See also: classical liberalism, corporativism, mutualism.

Fusionism

A political philosophy which combines traditionalism and social conservatism with right-leaning economic and political values. May include, or overlap with, mixtures of libertarian and conservative thought such as paleoconservatism, paleoliberterianism, libertarian-conservatism, right-libertarianism, right-Rothbardianism, Misesian “free-market capitalism”, and/or mercantilism. See also: Frank Meyer, and the “libertarian Southern Strategy”.

Free Market System

An economic system which focuses on individuals' subjective evaluation of goods and services as a basis for voluntary exchange and trade in markets. Also emphasizes entrepreneurship, the acquisition of property through just means and meritocracy, and the ownership of personal possessions. Sometimes called “free-market capitalism”. See also: libertarianism, mutualism, conservatism, capitalism.

Georgism

A system which features both a market system and the holding of land in common; the philosophy of social reformer and economist Henry George. George proposed Land Value Taxation, formerly referred to as “the Single Tax”. This would involve taxing only land (in its broad economic definition), rather than taxing labor and capital. George believed that land should be owned either by no one, or by the entire community. Aside from charging private owners rent, payable to the community, George favored entirely free markets otherwise. See also: geolibertarianism, geo-anarchism, green anarchism, Geo-Mutualism, Mutualism, and market socialism.

Individualism

The belief in the freedom of individuals. Often used in contrast to collectivism, which most individuals see as antagonistic towards individualism, and irreconcilable. May be used in a political, economic, or social sense. See also: individualist anarchism, libertarianism, autarchism.

Left-Wing Nationalism

An anti-capitalist, pro-socialist form of nationalism which rejects the bourgeois, cronyist, and oligarchical tendencies of right-wing nationalism. See also: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Jacobins, Thomas Hobbes, the social contract, social-nationalism, corporatism.

Leninism

Russian Communist Party Secretary Vladimir I. Ulyanov's (Lenin's) development of Marxist theory. Lenin wanted a centralized, federated network of soviet-socialist (or council-communist) republics. Also referred to as Marxism-Leninism, or M-L for short, Leninism is characterized by single party rule. See also: Bolshevism, Vanguardism, democratic centralism, council communism, Soviet communism, the one-party state, and Stalinism.

Libertarianism

A political philosophy which focuses on free choice; freedom of, to, and from association; free will; and the natural liberties and negative rights of individuals.

Libertarian Socialism

A category of socialism which rejects the state, and the use of force. Libertarian socialism aims to achieve the management of the means of production by the whole of society, but unlike authoritarian socialists, they aim to do so through non-authoritarian means, and on a free and voluntary basis. Libertarian socialists reject vertical hierarchy in favor of horizontality and egalitarianism, and value making capitalist practices unnecessary, and developing alternatives to them, instead of using force or the state to ban them. Libertarian socialists support minimal government (however defined); and decentralization, localism, and subsidiarism; as well as participatory democratic frameworks to manage resources. Like social anarchists, libertarian socialists support non-political direct action, such as mutual aid, but unlike social anarchists, libertarian socialists support supplementing that non-political action with gradual political reforms. See also: libertarian Marxism, libertarian communism / Bookchinism, left-Marxism, Luxemburgism, Wilhelm and Karl Liebknecht, and left-Marxism.

Maoism

Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong's (Mao Tse Tung's) development of Marxism- Leninism, which focuses on the role of peasants in the revolution more than other variants of Marxism do. Also called Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, or M-L-M for short. See also: Leninism, Marxism-Leninism, Communism with Chinese Characteristics.

Market Anarchism

The political and economic belief that the laws of supply and demand should not be interfered with by governments, and that freedom to enter into direct competition against the state is the ultimate illustration of freedom, anarchism, and voluntary exchange. See also: Gustave de Molinari, Agorism, free market system, anarchism, anarchy without adjectives, libertarianism, capitalism.

Marxism

The school of socialist thought founded by Karl Marx; most notably endorsing the abolition of the bourgeois state, through the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, which would wither away amid international cooperation to achieve free society, thus giving way to stateless anarcho-communism.

Mercantilism

An economic policy designed to maximize a nation's exports, and to maximize its accumulation of precious metals and other forms of hard currency. May involve “limited” or “minimal” supports for domestic firms and industries. See also: conservatism, nationalism, fusionism, protectionism, classical liberalism.

Mutualism

An economic system in which most resources are owned collectively or cooperatively, but in which most allocation and distribution is done through markets and voluntary exchange. Mutualism deems “economic rent” and “unearned income” - like surplus profit, rent, and interest – as unjustifiable, exploitative, and bordering on fraudulent; because all transactions must be mutually beneficial as well as voluntary, and must adhere to the principle “cost the limit of price”. See also: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker, market socialism, Dengism, Titoism, Geo- Mutualism, Ricardian socialism, free-market anti-capitalism.

National Socialism

A political and economic development of nationalism which rejects the Marxist conception of socialism, and instead re-frames the nation as synonymous with society and with the collective, thus re- framing racist ultra-nationalism as a form of socialism. Involved shutting large numbers of members of society out of what were supposed to be “societal” or “collective decisions”. Also involved government creating an illusion of private property ownership through government-directed privatization and selling-off of resources, but with jackbooted goons paying routine, intimidating visits to “private” properties. See also: Nazism, Hitlerism, and the N.S.D.A.P. (Nazionalsocialistiche Deutsche Arbiterpartei; National Socialist German Workers' Party).

Nationalism

The sentiment that peoples should express themselves as nations, usually in a territorial context with borders; and that peoples should aim to be politically and economically independent, and if necessary, restrict the movement of people and resources in order to protect the nation. Usually involves nationalization, which is the assumption of the control of productive firms by some national, federal, or central government authority. See also: nativism, National-Anarchism, nation-state, ultra-nationalism, conservatism, fascism, fusionism.

Neoconservatism

A political philosophy which supports hegemony and global conquest through a militant imperialist foreign policy, but which ironically pursues internationalism under the guise of nationalism, by advocating military presence in most or all foreign countries. Usually supports a dirigist, soft-fascist, or quasi-autarkic economic system, but may be less staunchly right-wing on issues related to social mores and the size and scope of government. See also: Irving Kristol, conservatism, fusionism, neo-liberalism, corporatism, fascism.

Neo-Liberalism

A system in which a liberal capitalist government has established a robust social safety net or welfare state, in order to supplement capitalist production, to relieve economic stress, to moderate the excesses of the market or capitalist system, and to provide a basic level and standard for subsistence. Usually involves high degrees of both economic equality and economic opportunity, but may also feature market-fetishism, and/or social mores which are not as enthusiastically inclusive as those advanced by modern social liberals. Neoliberal European nations are sometimes inaccurately described as practicing “European socialism”. See also: ordoliberalism, the Nordic Model, Rhine Capitalism, neoconservatism.

Populism

Any movement which appeals to marginalized, overlooked, and “common” people, who feel they have been disregarded by the political, economic, and social elite. Includes left-wing variants such as social democracy and democratic socialism, and right- wing variants such as fusionism and libertarian-conservatism.

Progressivism

A social, economic, and political philosophy which supports decision- making by majority rule, and which places a strong focus on progress. This progress can be social, technological, or pertain to achieving freedom and protecting positive rights (or all or any combination of the above), but the most popular associated position is the belief in economic progress through the progressive taxation of income (in which those earning the most income pay the highest percentages of that income in taxes). See also: democratic socialism, social democracy, left-wing populism, social liberalism.

Protectionism

The practice whereby a country extends privileges and protections to favored domestic industries, in order to attempt to give the nation as a whole an edge in those industries in the world markets. Can include subsidization, tax credits, bailouts, discounts on utilities, tariffs and barriers against foreign production, extension of L.L.C. status, creating favorable professional regulations that allow existing firms to shut out their competitors, and furnishment of easy credit and low interest rates to encourage investment. See also: mercantilism, corporatism, crony capitalism, fascism, dirigism.

Republicanism

A political system in which the public limits the power of government through a constitution or compact establishing the rule of law. Includes right-wing variants like conservative republicanism, as well as left-leaning variants like democratic-republicanism and social republicanism. See also: constitution, rule of law, limited government, libertarianism, social contract.

Right-Wing Nationalism

The dominant form of nationalism; the bourgeois Westphalian nation- state. Often features political and economic isolationism and autarky, oligarchy and crony capitalism, and exploitation of workers and/or the environment for profit. See also: nationalism, ultra-nationalism, corporatism.

Social Anarchism

The belief in social tolerance, equality, equity, diversity, and multiculturalism; paired with the belief that the abolition of government or the state will help achieve these ends. See also: anarchism, socialism, social liberalism.

Social Democracy

The achievement of a socialist system through democratic decision- making and other democratic means. In the 19^th century, those described as “social democrats” were mostly Marx-influenced socialists who were criticized by other Marxists as “revisionists” for being open to gradualism and reformism (that is, working with the bourgeois state slowly on its own terms), and for believing that a revolution can be bypassed by voting a socialist or pro-worker government into control of a bourgeois nation-state's government.

Social Liberalism

The belief in social tolerance, equality, equity, and usually also diversity and multiculturalism; sometimes paired with the belief that limiting government will help achieve these ends. More or less synonymous with modern liberalism. See also: social anarchism, neo-liberalism.

Social Nationalism

A variant of socialism which – although it staunchly opposses industrial capitalism when done by anyone – is also highly nationalistic or nativist, and which may also subscribe to racial supremacy. See also:national syndicalism, left-wing nationalism, social patriotism, patriotic socialism, social chauvinism, Strasserism, national communism, National Bolshevism, the East German Stasi, and national socialism (Nazism).

Social Republic

A political system in which the rule of law is established through a constitution or compact limiting the powers of governments, but which focuses on including as much of society as possible in the drafting of a “social contract” or “social compact”. See also: republicanism, left-wing nationalism, social nationalism, corporatism.

Socialism

The societal management of the means of production, and/or the factors of production. An economic system in which the means of production are managed and operated for the benefit of the society as a whole, for communities and collectives (or “the community” or “the collective”), and/or for workers. In a general sense, can refer to any left-leaning or socialist-inspired system; or to any system in which production, distribution, purchase, possession, and/or management are primarily done by workers, cooperatives, groups, or collectives. Include authoritarian "right-wing socialist" variants such as Stalinism, as well as libertarian "left-wing socialist" variants such as anarcho-communism and Bookchinism. See also: social democracy, democratic socialism, libertarian socialism, communism.

Stalinism

Josef Stalin's development of the Marxist-Leninist ideology. Involves authoritarian enforcement, establishing strict military and labor disciplines, mass surveillance and the encouragement of spying on one's neighbors, little recognition of human rights and the rights of historically marginalized peoples (race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, political opinion, etc.), and a focus on industrialization. Much more open to war and imperialism than most other Marxist tendencies. Also called Marxism-Leninism- Stalinism, and derisively referred to as State Monopoly Capitalism and “collapsed communism”. See also: Vanguardism, Bolshevism, Socialism in One Country, and “world communism” and the Comintern (the communist Third International).

Totalitarianism

A political system in which all political, economic, and social affairs and interactions are strictly controlled, by a strong (usually central) government, which often employs harsh punishments and invasive surveillance, monitoring, and tracking techniques – as well as thorough record keeping, and the requirement that permits and licenses be issued for any and all types of activities - to enforce its order and acquire and retain control. Mussolini described totalitarianism as "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state". See also: fascism, national socialism (Nazism), imperialism / colonialism, tyranny.

Ultra-Nationalism

The belief that one's nation of birth makes one intrinsically superior to people who were born elsewhere, or to those who pledge fealty to a different sovereign. Usually involves autarkic and nativist measures like the enthusiastic imposition of barriers to free movement and free flow of goods from outside of the nation, often whether the need is pressing or not. See also: nativism, nation- state.

Originally Written on August 7^th, 9^th, and 10^th, 2018

Originally Published on August 10^th, 2018

Edited and Expanded on August 13th, 21st, and 23rd,
and September 5th, 2018