Difference Between Communism and Liberalism

Edited by Diffzy | Updated on: April 30, 2023

       

Difference Between Communism and Liberalism

Why read @ Diffzy

Our articles are well-researched

We make unbiased comparisons

Our content is free to access

We are a one-stop platform for finding differences and comparisons

We compare similar terms in both tabular forms as well as in points


Introduction

Ideologies are a part of life that has been meshed with everything that happens in the world. There are many ideologies and some of them emerged in heated war-like situations, because of this often the ideologies clash. The opposing ideas also lead to the clash that oftentimes doesn't go out normally. Liberalism and communism are two of many ideologies in the world. these terminologies have their own set of principles.

Communism vs. Liberalism

Communism is a political ideology founded on the principle of equality for all. Communism seeks to develop a communist society in which individuals are not divided based on their income or class. Communism is a subset of socialism. Liberalism is a political ideology centered on individual liberty. Liberalism advocates for individual rights such as civil and human rights, freedom of speech, freedom to follow any religion, and so on. Liberalism is a modern phenomenon that emerged in the 17th century as people became more concerned with their social acceptance. We were aware. The primary distinction between communism and liberalism is that communism does not acknowledge individual liberty and instead represents equality for all members of society. Individual liberty, on the other hand, is symbolized by liberalism. Unlike liberalism, communism results in a classless society of people where no one is considered superior or inferior to another. Although theory helps a lot in the understanding of these two terms, the table below will serve as a more practical basis that will make clearer distinctions between them.

Difference between Communism and Liberalism in Tabular Form

Basis of comparison Communism Liberalism
Primary Ideal Equality of every citizen. More based on individuality and freedom
Economy The economy is based on Collective ownership. Economy is based on Private property.
Ethos Integrated human rights and analogous nationwide cultures. A multiplicity of rights and interests.
Portrayal Formed as the outcome of a revolution. Formal as the outcome of democratic elections.
Nations China, North Korea, and Cuba among others Switzerland, the UK, and New Zealand among others.

What is Communism?

Communism is a political ideology that advocates for a classless society in which all property and wealth are jointly owned rather than individually owned. The communist ideology, founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, is in contrast to the capitalism ideology, which focuses on democracy and capital production to create a society. The Soviet Union and China were great instances of communism. While the former was declared bankrupt in 1991, the latter has dramatically altered its economic structure to integrate features of capitalism. Communism is a political ideology that seeks to achieve a society without classes, in which all property and wealth are collectively owned by communists rather than any one citizen. Following Russia's October Revolution in 1917, communism was first acknowledged worldwide and in same year, the country's first communist administration was established. Following the pattern, communism was imposed violently in a number of countries. However, communist parties currently control few states only.

There are no individual rights under communist philosophy, and everyone is expected to contribute to the welfare of society, solely for the general good and not for profit. The resources generated are distributed evenly among people based on their needs rather than their level of commitment to the task. As a result, no individual is deemed superior or inferior to another in a classless integrated society. Historically, communism was first recognized globally in 1917 during Russia's October Revolution. This was when the first communist government was enacted in a nation. Following the pattern, Communism was forcefully established in many nations. However, today, only a few nations are controlled by communist parties. Under the ideology of communism, there are no individual rights and everyone is to contribute to the welfare of the society, for the common good only, and not for profit. The resources produced are equally shared among the people, based on the requirements, and not on their level of contribution to the work. This results in a classless unified society where no individual is considered superior or inferior to the other.

Communism can only be built by destroying capitalism, and as a result, communist tactics have been widely condemned around the world. According to critics, communism leads to poor economic performance and breaches of human rights. In its primary form, communism is a philosophy centered on equitable property distribution among the residents of a nation and common ownership of all property. It explicitly calls for the control of the means of production, such as manufacturing and agriculture, by the working class or proletariat. Its ultimate goal was to achieve a classless society, at which point the state would become weak. "Communism" is a broad term that encompasses a variety of philosophies. The contemporary meaning of the term may be traced back to the 18th-century French aristocrat Victor Dubois, who supported living in "communes" where all property was shared and "everyone could benefit from everyone's effort." However, the concept was not new at the time: the Book of Acts describes Christian communities in the first century as having an equal property under a system known as koinonia, which subsequently led to religious groups such in the 17th century. The English "diggers" were inspired. Refuse to accept private ownership.

Even though communism was initiated for the welfare of the society, it failed due to several reasons:-

  1. The first is a lack of motivation among citizens to produce for profit. Profit motives drive societal rivalry and innovation. In a communist society, however, an ideal citizen was selflessly devoted to social labor and rarely thought about his well-being. "At all times and in all situations, a party member should weigh and prioritize the party's interests over personal issues and interests," wrote Liu Shaoqi, the People's Republic of China's second president. China.

  2. A further reason for communism's failure was the scheme's intrinsic ineptitude, like federal preparation. This type of planning necessitates the collection and analysis of huge volumes of data on a broad scale. This type of planning was also complex because all of the projects were planned centrally. In many cases, development data was modified or erroneous to fit reality within projected estimates and create a sense of progress.

  3. The concentration of power in the hands of a few causes inefficiencies and, ironically, gives them incentives to manipulate the system to their benefit and maintain their hold on power. Corruption and inactivity became endemic aspects of this society, and surveillance was ubiquitous, as it was in East German and Soviet cultures. It also discouraged hardworking people from working. The economy suffered as a result.

What is Liberalism?

The term "liberal" comes from the same Latin root as liberti, which means "free." Before the nineteenth century, the phrase meant "liberal or accommodating." Liberalism is a political theory that seeks to safeguard individual rights such as civil and human rights, freedom of expression, religious freedom, and so on. People also adhere to liberalism as an intellectual tradition. An English philosopher, John Locke, popularized the concept of liberalism around the world. John Locke is regarded as the founder of modern liberalism. Liberalism was recognized for the first time in the 17th century. Many revolutionary reforms around the world were influenced by the concept of liberalism, including the growth of secularism, constitutionalism, and nationalism. The first liberal government was enacted in the UK by the Liberal Party in 1905.

People have individual liberties under liberalism's worldview, and everyone is free to act privately on their own and follow other religions and beliefs. People's resources and earnings are fully dependent on the work they conduct. As a result, people in liberal societies tend to be diverse in terms of economy, class, religion, and so on. Additionally, liberalism results in a diversity of cultures and rights in society. Liberalism is based on democratic elections in which all citizens have the right to vote. Because it emphasizes the independence of every individual, liberalism is both examined and condemned for its ideals, but it also creates an undesirable split in society based on income. One of the main arguments of liberalism is that the concentration of unaccountable violent power is a fundamental threat to individual liberty and must be stopped. Institutions and norms are the main means of controlling power, both at the domestic and international levels. International institutions bound the authority of states by boosting collaboration and giving means to penalize those who disrupt these transnational contracts.

Economic institutions are especially effective at promoting cooperation because of the significant benefits that come from economic interdependence. Finally, liberal norms constrain the exercise of power by changing our sense of what forms of behavior are acceptable. Liberalism is not the 'utopian' philosophy that once appealed to label the dream world of peace and happiness. It provides a coherent response to realism that is well supported by data and based on a solid foundation.

Core liberal values:-

  1. Individualism is the concept that the individual is more important than any social group or collective body.

  2. Nyaya - the equitable distribution of rewards and penalties.

  3. Tolerance is the readiness to accept ideas or facts with which one disagrees or rejects.

  4. Accountability - the ability to accept accountability for one's financial and social circumstances.

  5. Rationalism - the concept that the world has a rational structure that can be manifested via human behavior.

  6. Justifications and Important Inquiries

  7. Liberty - the ability to think or act according to one's own desire through self-determination

Main Differences Between Communism and Liberalism in Points

  1. Communist states are a result of revolutions whereas Liberal societies are formed by democratic elections.

  2. Communism results in a classless society where no individual is considered above or below the other. On the other hand, Liberalism divides society based on social status and economic wealth.

  3. There are now only a few communist nations whereas liberal nations are large in number.

  4. Communist nations are dependent on the government for the economy whereas liberation nations depend mostly on the private area.

  5. Liberalism is a political ideology that thinks that an individual is free from all interferences and restrictions. Communism does not give any emphasis to individual freedom.

  6. In communism, power is equally shared by everyone. But in Liberalism, there is no power-sharing but everyone considers being free from the other.

  7. There may be some form of government in Liberalism but in Communism, there is no government as it implies a classless and stateless society.

Conclusion

Overall, liberalism and communism are two distinct terminologies with distinct ideals and understandings. Both ideas result in opposed ways of life, encompassing cultures, religion, money, freedom, and so on. People who were once ignorant of individual liberty have become enlightened in recent decades, and liberalism has always been on the rise. Because the primary objective of liberalism is individual liberty, most governments are based on democratic elections. The inhabitants of the country have the freedom to work independently, and wealth is distributed fairly based on the amount of labor. However, liberalism divides society into classes based on income, religion, and so on.

On the other hand, communism is not regarded favorably in the current era for its ideology. Nations governed by communists operate independently of the rest of the world; as a result, no individual should labor in private. Human rights violations, complete lack of freedom, unequal economic distribution, and other issues are frequently criticized. China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos, are presently five communist nations in the world. On the other hand, liberalism has now taken over the world and is at an all-time high. Individual liberty is a central tenet of liberalism.

Liberalism is a political theory that believes that a person is free of all interference and constraints. Individual liberty does not get emphasized in communism. Power is shared equally by everybody in communism. However, there is no separation of authority in liberalism, and everyone believes in their independence from one another. Communism does not believe that one individual is superior to another. When it comes to the economy, liberalism envisions a free market, whereas communism envisions the community or society controlling the economy and the means of production. Profit is distributed evenly in communism. From this, we conclude that the basic difference between the two is that one term is based on the public welfare the other is based on the welfare of an individual.

References


Category

Law


Cite this article

Use the citation below to add this article to your bibliography:


Styles:

×

MLA Style Citation


"Difference Between Communism and Liberalism." Diffzy.com, 2024. Wed. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.diffzy.com/article/difference-between-communism-and-liberalism-231>.



Edited by
Diffzy


Share this article