Leftism versus Liberalism

By: Ira Sharma

In the last few years, there has been a huge shift in the Democratic party leftwards. 2020 candidates for the primary increasingly embraced policies known as “too far left” historically, and there became an important distinction within the party if someone was a leftist or a liberal. This raises the question, what even is a leftist, how are they different from a liberal? Both liberals and leftists agree on a few things but actually disagree on most everything.

A few of the major disagreements of the two start with the economy: 

Liberals believe that capitalism isn’t inherently evil, and can be reformed. Leftists, on the other hand, believe that capitalism is an oppressive system that cannot be reformed. In this same way, liberals believe our system is broken and needs to be fixed, while leftists believe that the system is working exactly how it’s intended to, as an oppressive force and that it needs to be destroyed. Elizabeth Warren, a prominent liberal, once said, “I am capitalist to the bone… I believe in markets and the benefits they can produce when they work. I love the competition that comes with a market that has decent rules… The problem is when the rules are not enforced when the markets are not level playing field, all the wealth is scraped in one direction.” Leftists' view on how the economy should be run varies, with some identifying as socialists, others communist, and a few anarchists. Socialism, the most common kind of leftist here in the U.S.,  is defined as when workers control (at least some) of its means of production, such as infrastructure, energy, etc. On the contrary, capitalism allows for private owners to control the means of production. In the same sense, many socialists call for the complete ban of the private sector and discuss different ways to achieve this. This is at odds with the capitalist view of free markets for freer people. 

Another major difference is in patriotism and country. and Liberals believe that patriotism is a positive force and that a patriot makes sure their country lives up to its ideals and values. Leftists, on the other hand, counter that patriotism is irrational, and believe that it is a force on the road to fascism. This adds to the point that liberals believe in the concept of nation, while leftists believe nations have no place in modern society. Many modern leftists advocate for global citizenship rather than allegiance to a country. However, there is a rift in what many leftists believe about the modern-day nation-state, with many leftists advocating for the state advancing revolutionary struggles, and others viewing no need for a state at all.

The struggle between leftism and liberalism are apparent in today’s Democratic party, with moderates warring against newfound socialists like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The party finds itself split between centrist, right-down-the-middle policies, and revolutionary legislation like the Green New Deal, the likes of which has never been nearly as mainstream. While these are just a few of the differences between the two, liberalism and leftism are very different ideologies that disagree in many more ways. 


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