How Does Egalitarianism Compare to Other Social Systems and "Isms"?

 

 

The key difference between egalitarianism and the other "isms" discussed below is that egalitarianism not only aims to abolish class inequality but also is able to do so. In contrast, the other "isms" fail to abolish class inequality either because a) they accept it as legitimate (as necessary or even desirable) or because b) they aim to abolish it but inevitably fail to do so for a reason stemming from the core beliefs of the "ism" in question.

 

The specific reasons each of the following "isms" fail to abolish class inequality are discussed in some detail in the pages linked to here: capitalism, communism, socialism, libertarianism, anarchism. The chart below compares and contrasts these "isms" with egalitarianism.

 

 

Egalitarianism

• sharing (moneyless) economy based on "From each according to ability, to each according to need"

• no rich & no poor

• laws only made locally by egalitarians

 

Capitalism

• money-based, for-profit economy

• some rich and some poor

• laws made by a central government dominated by big money

 

Communism

• For the Forseeable Future:

  • money-based economy with central government planning

  • top Communist Party members are "more equal than others" and enjoy luxury & privileges & power

  • laws made by a central government dominated by the Communist Party

• In the Far Distant Future After Scarcity is Eliminated:

  • sharing (moneyless) economy based on "From each according to ability, to each according to need"

  • Communist Party whithers away

  • the government whithers away

 

Socialism

• money-based economy with some central government planning & some private for-profit businesses

• some rich and some poor

• laws made by a central government dominated (in practice) by big money

 

Libertarianism

• money-based, for-profit economy

• some rich and some poor

• minimal government (only for national defense and enforcement of contracts, some of which make some rich and some poor)

 

Anarchism  (as practiced during the Spanish Revolution 1936-9)

• sharing (moneyless) economy based on "From each according to ability, to each according to need" (with variations in different places, but approximating this typically)

• no rich & no poor

• no government at all (this was a fatal flaw because in practice it meant that anarchists allowed anti-egalitarians to set up a government in the part of Spain where four million people were creating egalitarianism, and this in turn enabled the fascist General Franco to defeat the Spanish Revolution militarily)