Political Economy: Building Social Equity by Balancing Liberty and Socialism
To sum up the political divisiveness we see today - or in any era - it is the debate between Liberty and Socialism and how much we want of each. Most see the two as binary extremes where Socialism is the complete subjugation of individual liberty and Liberty being an abdication of personal responsibility within a functioning society. The reality, of course, is that both are needed to maximize Justice and Equality and to grease the engines of capitalism.
Liberty: Liberty is what drives economic growth an makes individuals wealthy - not just monetary wealth, but psychological wealth as well. This is because it gives individuals agency over the direction of their lives and to solve the problems they face with their own creativity. This is how Liberty drives the economic growth, buy allowing individuals to bring their skills, ideas, and products to the market to either fail or succeed. That said, unlimited liberty - a society with no inhibitions, social constructs, rules, laws, or manners - is anarchy. A world with unlimited liberty is a world where those with the biggest weapon makes the rules. Therefore, a world with unlimited liberty, paradoxically, is a world where only the few (or the one) has true Liberty.
Socialism: Socialism is what protects individuals from one another and is whenever the government does anything (not just hand out ‘free’ money). Socialism is providing a Police Force, Fire Department, paving roads, or nationalizing resources (bad). It provides security for the masses by forming rules and laws and can improve commerce by promoting competition when monopolies are present or stepping in to assume control or oversight of an industry if there are market inefficiencies. Socialism is meant to protect the citizens it serves. A world with unlimited socialism however is a world, where again, only the few powerful elite enjoy the benefits of socialism by labeling dissent as security threats to the state.
In both cases, the extremes leave the masses without justice or equality. A world with unlimited Liberty is a world without Socialism, and a world with unlimited Socialism is a world without Liberty. Both are needed to create Social Equity - where individuals feel they have ownership in society - and that is what politics is; the debate over how much Liberty we individually sacrifice to create a more equitable society.
Below is how Liberty correlates to Socialism and how disequilibrium creates increased injustice and inequality. The vertical lines are my own interpretation - but your’s might be different based on your own perceptions. That is why politics is so complicated, we all have a different view of what Social Equity is.
