Humanities Paper

Essay Question #5: Ideologies and the Political Spectrum

“There is no religion in which everyday life is not considered a prison; there is no philosophy or ideology that does not think that we live in alienation.”

- Eugene Ionesco

The concept of ideology comes from the philosophical developments posed by a collection of Greeks including Plato, who would differentiate between the notions of facts and opinions in light of the political growth of the human race. His argument revolved around episteme (“logical knowledge”) and doxa (“opinion”). These developments in philosophy would prove to be important in the creation of our current notion of ideology, which is basically a set of beliefs and values held by humanity as the upmost truth. Although declaring ideology as a basic “set of rules” is not incorrect, there is far more to this system than a simplified definition would allow. This essay will provide details on each of the four major political ideologies as well as determining my own political leanings/choices as defined by the political compass website.

In Canada, we have numerous political ideals and ideologies that reflect our multi-faceted political spectrum. As the most popular ideology, social democracy remains the tried and true set of beliefs that we have willingly fought for as both an independent nation and an allied force with our democratic peer nations. The idea that everyone is equal, at least to some degree, is favoured by social democracy. Everyone should be able to vote, and society should also be able to develop their own opinions on how to change or evolve themselves to encompass the wide social differences that we are faced with throughout the country, and furthermore the rest of the globe. Although many would argue that social democracy is merely a farce and unrealistic, it stands as a shining hope for many people who strive for total democracy in the world. Karl Marx, the creator of communism was a major proponent to the development of socialism and furthermore, Marxism.

Liberalism may not have the same leftist leanings that social democracy encompasses, however it is closest to the left on the spectrum. This ideology has more of an emphasis on personal gain and a proximity to the notion of “making your own future” rather than providing all of society with the same benefits and opportunities. The state upholds the laws that they make in order to promote and distribute a vision of its people living lifestyles that aid all of the people rather than take away from them. Other main beliefs held within liberalism are the rights to a home, to vote, to earn a living wage and to obtain health care. Canada is a nation that has held liberalist leanings for many years, and our previous generation of Liberal party victories in both federal and provincial elections shows that the general sentiment of Canadian politics revolve around liberalism.

Conservatism is on the right side of the political spectrum. Essentially, it takes much of what liberalism has produced but adds a more right wing approach, which can loosely be translated as follows. A major portion of conservatism exists within the rules and punishments created to keep society in check, also known as the “status quo”. The idea of punishment is a bit more severe in conservative nations, which usually means stricter laws and rulings and potential for more “eye for an eye” style of justice. The death penalty may be