Comprehensive Ideology Guide

Leninism

Core Tenet: A revolutionary ideology that seeks to create a classless, stateless, and moneyless society. However, it posits that this final stage of "full communism" can only be achieved after a transitional period known as the "dictatorship of the proletariat."

The Method: Leninism is distinguished by its revolutionary method: the "vanguard party." Vladimir Lenin developed this approach as the means to achieve revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Lenin argued that the working class (proletariat), left to its own devices, would only ever achieve "trade-union consciousness" (i.e., asking for better wages), not the revolutionary consciousness needed to overthrow the entire system. Therefore, a small, disciplined, and professional party of revolutionaries—the "vanguard"—was needed to lead the workers, seize all state power in their name, and establish the "dictatorship of the proletariat."

This vanguard-led state then nationalizes all means of production (all factories, farms, and land) and implements a "command economy," where a central planning bureau (like Gosplan in the USSR) determines all economic output, from steel quotas to the price of bread. This total state control is justified as necessary to rapidly build a socialist economy and defend the revolution from its many "counter-revolutionary" enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Analysis: The key to understanding Leninism is the vanguard party method. What makes this ideology "Authoritarian" is the Leninist vanguard. The very idea that a small, elite group knows what is best for the masses and possesses the right to use the full, coercive power of the state to force that vision into reality is the "authoritarian" gene in its DNA. This is the pivot point that separates it from all other forms of socialism and places it firmly in this quadrant.

Trotskyism

Core Tenet: A variant of Marxism-Leninism developed by Leon Trotsky, which maintains the Leninist vanguard party structure but emphasizes "permanent revolution" and internationalism over "socialism in one country."

The Method: Trotskyism shares Leninism's commitment to a vanguard party and the dictatorship of the proletariat. However, Trotsky argued that socialism could not be built in a single, isolated country (as Stalin claimed). Instead, he advocated for "permanent revolution"—a continuous process of spreading the revolution internationally. Trotskyists are highly critical of Stalinism, viewing it as a "degenerated workers' state" that betrayed the revolution's internationalist ideals.

(Chinese) State Capitalism

Core Tenet: A broader, often more pragmatic ideology where the state owns and controls the "commanding heights" of the economy—this includes major sectors like energy, transportation, healthcare, heavy industry, and banking.

The Method: Unlike revolutionary Communism, State Socialism can be (and often is) implemented by non-Marxist or nationalist movements. It uses the tools of nationalization and central planning to ensure social welfare, achieve rapid industrialization, and secure national independence from foreign capital.

Difference from Communism: State Socialism is often less "total" than Marxism-Leninism. It may still allow for small-scale private enterprise, such as local shops, small farms, and artisan workshops. Furthermore, its guiding principle is often nationalism rather than the internationalism (i.e., "workers of the world, unite!") that is the ideal of classical Communism.

National Socialism

Core Tenet: The ideology of Nazi Germany, which combined ultra-nationalism, racial hierarchy, and state-directed corporatism. It is distinguished from generic Fascism by its unique emphasis on racial purity and industrialized genocide.

The Method: National Socialism (Nazism) shares Fascism's rejection of liberalism, democracy, and communism. However, it adds a specific racial doctrine: the belief in an "Aryan" master race and the systematic persecution and extermination of "inferior" races, particularly Jews. Economically, it practiced corporatism—private ownership directed by state goals, particularly rearmament and autarky (economic self-sufficiency).

Fascism

Core Tenet: An ultra-nationalist, hierarchical, and "palingenetic" (from the Greek palingenesis, meaning "rebirth") ideology. It sees the nation not as a collection of individuals, but as a living, organic, and supreme whole. The individual has no meaning or rights except as a member of the nation-state. Its entire purpose is action, will, and the "re-birth" of a glorious, mythic past.

The Method: Fascism is defined by what it rejects: it is anti-liberal (rejecting individual rights), anti-democratic (rejecting "mob rule"), and anti-communist (rejecting class warfare, which it sees as dividing the nation). Society is not to be unified by class (like Communism) but by a shared mythic identity—be it national (Mussolini's "Roman-ness") or racial (the "Aryan" identity of German National Socialism). It is characterized by a "cult of the leader," the worship of the state as a spiritual entity, and the elimination of all dissent.

Analysis: A common and critical error is to misunderstand Fascism's economic position. Because it is on the "far-right," many assume it must be hyper-capitalist. This is false. The "Nazi" in the Nazi Party stands for "National Socialist." This creates confusion, but the answer lies in its core tenet: the economy, like the individual, is entirely subservient to the state. Fascism is neither communist (it does not seize private property) nor free-market (it loathes laissez-faire individualism). Instead, Fascism practices "corporatism." The state directs private industry. It allows private firms like Volkswagen, IG Farben, or Fiat to exist and profit, but only if they work for the state's goals (e.g., re-armament, national self-sufficiency). The "Right" in its Auth-Right classification refers to its passionate belief in hierarchy, tradition, authority, and nationalism, not to a laissez-faire economic policy.

Monarchism

Core Tenet: A belief in the legitimacy and necessity of hereditary monarchy as the ideal form of government. Monarchists argue that a single, unelected ruler provides stability, continuity, and a unifying national symbol.

The Method: Monarchism can take various forms. Absolute monarchism advocates for unlimited royal power. Constitutional monarchism accepts a monarch as head of state but with limited powers, often alongside democratic institutions. Monarchists typically support traditional social hierarchies, established religion, and aristocratic privilege.

Distributism

Core Tenet: An economic philosophy that advocates for the widest possible distribution of private property ownership. It opposes both concentrated private wealth (capitalism) and state ownership (socialism), instead favoring small-scale, family-owned businesses and farms.

The Method: Distributism, heavily influenced by Catholic social teaching, argues that property should be distributed as widely as possible so that as many people as possible can own productive property. It supports policies like breaking up large corporations, promoting small businesses, and protecting family farms. Socially, it emphasizes traditional family structures and religious values.

Authoritarian Democratism

Core Tenet: A system that maintains the formal structures of democracy (elections, parliaments) while severely restricting political competition, civil liberties, and opposition. It uses democratic legitimacy to justify authoritarian control.

The Method: Authoritarian democratic regimes hold elections, but these elections are not free or fair. Opposition parties may be banned, media is controlled, and the ruling party uses state resources to maintain power. The regime claims legitimacy through "popular support" while systematically suppressing dissent.

National Capitalism

Core Tenet: An economic system that combines private ownership and market mechanisms with strong state intervention to protect and promote national economic interests. The state actively directs capitalism toward national goals.

The Method: National Capitalism maintains private property and markets but uses protectionism, industrial policy, and state subsidies to shield national industries from foreign competition. The state may also direct investment toward strategic sectors and use trade policy to favor national businesses. This differs from laissez-faire capitalism in its acceptance of state economic intervention for national purposes.

Marxism

Core Tenet: The original philosophy of Karl Marx, which provides a critique of capitalism and a vision of a classless, stateless society. Unlike Leninism, Marxism does not prescribe a specific method for achieving socialism.

The Method: Marx's analysis focuses on class struggle and the contradictions within capitalism. He argued that capitalism would eventually collapse due to its internal contradictions, leading to socialism. Marx did not provide a detailed blueprint for how the transition should occur, leaving this open to interpretation. This has led to various Marxist schools, from the authoritarian Leninism to the libertarian tendencies of some anarchists.

Libertarian Socialism

Core Tenet: A broad category of socialist ideologies that seek to abolish capitalism and class hierarchy without using a powerful state. They emphasize decentralized, democratic, and voluntary forms of organization.

The Method: Libertarian Socialists reject both capitalism and authoritarian state socialism. Instead, they advocate for worker self-management, cooperatives, community control, and federations of autonomous communities. They believe socialism can only be achieved through direct democracy and voluntary association, not through state coercion.

Anarcho-Communism

Core Tenet: A revolutionary ideology that seeks to abolish the state, capitalism, and all forms of hierarchy, replacing them with a stateless, classless society based on voluntary cooperation and the principle "from each according to ability, to each according to need."

The Method: Anarcho-Communists believe that both the state and capitalism must be abolished simultaneously through direct action, general strikes, and insurrection. They envision a society organized into free communes and federations, where production and distribution are managed collectively without money or markets. Unlike Marxist-Leninists, they reject the "dictatorship of the proletariat" and any transitional state.

Mutualism

Core Tenet: An early form of anarchism that advocates for a market economy without capitalism, where workers own their means of production and exchange goods through mutual credit and free association.

The Method: Mutualists support individual ownership of property but oppose the concentration of capital. They advocate for mutual banks that provide interest-free credit, worker cooperatives, and free markets without monopolies. The key is that workers should own what they produce, eliminating the exploitation inherent in wage labor.

Egoism

Core Tenet: A radical individualist philosophy that rejects all fixed ideas, moral codes, and social obligations in favor of the individual's own self-interest and desires.

The Method: Egoists, following Max Stirner's philosophy, argue that concepts like "society," "morality," "rights," and "duty" are "spooks" that enslave the individual. They advocate for "unions of egoists"—voluntary, temporary associations based on mutual self-interest rather than fixed principles. Egoism is fundamentally amoral, rejecting both traditional morality and revolutionary ethics.

Democratic Socialism

Core Tenet: A belief that both the political state and the economic sphere must be brought under full democratic control.

The Method: Democratic Socialists seek to replace the capitalist system. They argue that capitalism is inherently exploitative, anti-democratic (as "capital" has more power than "people"), and unsustainable. Their goal is to end the private ownership of the "means of production" (large-scale industries, banks, utilities) and replace it with social ownership. "Social ownership" can mean state ownership, but it can also mean a society dominated by worker-owned cooperatives or community-owned enterprises. Unlike Marxist-Leninists, they believe this transition must be achieved democratically and peacefully, by building a mass movement and winning elections, rather than through a violent vanguard-led revolution.

Analysis: This ideology is the subject of the single most significant confusion in modern politics: its relationship with "Social Democracy." A Democratic Socialist believes capitalism cannot be tamed or "humanized" and must be fundamentally replaced. A Social Democrat (who lives in the Center) believes capitalism can be tamed. They want to keep a competitive market economy but tax it heavily to pay for social goods. This is the fundamental difference between seeking to abolish capitalism and seeking to reform it. This distinction is critical to understanding the modern political landscape.

Social Liberalism

Core Tenet: A form of liberalism that combines classical liberal values (individual rights, free markets) with a belief that the state has a positive role in ensuring social justice and providing public goods.

The Method: Social Liberals support market economies but believe that unregulated markets can produce inequality and social problems. They advocate for state intervention through progressive taxation, social safety nets, public education, and healthcare to ensure equal opportunity and social mobility. They balance economic freedom with social responsibility.

Liberal Democratism

Core Tenet: A centrist ideology that combines liberal democracy with moderate economic policies, emphasizing pluralism, tolerance, and democratic institutions.

The Method: Liberal Democrats support representative democracy, the rule of law, and protection of individual rights. Economically, they favor mixed economies with both private enterprise and state regulation. They emphasize compromise, consensus-building, and gradual reform over radical change.

Market Liberalism

Core Tenet: A form of liberalism that emphasizes free markets, free trade, and minimal state intervention in the economy, while maintaining support for democratic institutions and civil liberties.

The Method: Market Liberals support laissez-faire economics, believing that free markets are the most efficient way to allocate resources and create prosperity. They advocate for deregulation, privatization, free trade, and low taxes. However, they differ from pure libertarians in their acceptance of some state functions like defense, law enforcement, and basic infrastructure.

Anarcho-Capitalism

Core Tenet: This ideology takes libertarian principles to their logical conclusion. It argues that if taxation is a form of aggression (i.e., theft, the taking of property by force), then even a minimal "night-watchman" state is an illegitimate, coercive monopoly.

The Method: Anarcho-Capitalists argue that the free market is not only more moral but also more efficient at providing all services, including those typically reserved for the state (like police, courts, and defense). In a theoretical Anarcho-Capitalist society, there would be no state at all. "Police" would be replaced by competing private security firms. "Courts" would be replaced by private arbitration agencies. Even "national defense" would be handled by private militias or defense contractors hired by federations of private communities and businesses. They argue that this competition would produce better, cheaper, and more accountable services than any state "monopoly" ever could.

Libertarian Capitalism

Core Tenet: A form of libertarianism that strongly emphasizes free-market capitalism and private property rights, while advocating for minimal state intervention in both economic and social affairs.

The Method: Libertarian Capitalists support laissez-faire economics and believe that free markets, when unencumbered by state regulation, produce the best outcomes for society. They advocate for privatization of most state functions, deregulation, free trade, and low or no taxes. They differ from Anarcho-Capitalists in their acceptance of a minimal state for protection of property rights and contracts.

Agorism

Core Tenet: A revolutionary form of market anarchism that seeks to abolish the state through "counter-economics"—illegal or non-state market activity that undermines state power.

The Method: Agorists believe that by engaging in black markets, gray markets, and other forms of non-state economic activity, individuals can gradually starve the state of resources and legitimacy. They advocate for building parallel economic institutions outside state control, eventually making the state obsolete. The name comes from the Greek "agora," meaning marketplace.

Objectivism

Core Tenet: Objectivism is not just a political ideology; it is a complete, integrated philosophical system developed by the novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand.

The Method: The politics of Objectivism (which is laissez-faire capitalism) is the final consequence of a strict philosophical chain: Metaphysics: Reality is objective ("A is A"). Epistemology: Reason is humanity's only tool for perceiving reality. Ethics: Rational self-interest (or "rational selfishness") is the highest moral good. (Altruism, the idea of living for others, is seen as a moral evil). Politics: Given the above, the only political-economic system that respects humanity's status as a rational, productive individual is laissez-faire capitalism.

Analysis: The key distinction between an Objectivist and a standard Libertarian or "Chicago School" economist is why they support capitalism. A pragmatic Libertarian might argue for free markets because they are efficient—they produce the most wealth for the most people (a utilitarian argument). An Objectivist argues for free markets because they are moral. It is the only system that leaves the individual "heroic creator" free from the coercion of the state and the "looting" of the collective. An Objectivist would still support capitalism even if it were less efficient than socialism, because it is the only system rooted in reason and individual rights. This is a profound moral and philosophical distinction, not just a political one.

Classical Liberalism

Core Tenet: This is the original liberalism of the 18th and 19th centuries, born from Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Adam Smith.

The Blend: At the time of its birth, Classical Liberalism was a radical, revolutionary ideology. It is almost purely Libertarian-Right in its composition, championing both free markets (economic freedom) and individual rights (social freedom) against the feudal, Theocratic, and monarchist Auth-Right systems that had dominated Europe for a thousand years.

Analysis: The "Great Divorce" of Liberalism: This ideology is the source of enormous confusion, as its legacy is contested. To understand it, one must understand the "Great Divorce." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the Industrial Revolution created massive wealth alongside massive poverty, Classical Liberalism split in two. Branch 1: This group continued to believe that economic freedom was the most important principle. They became what we today call Conservatives (in Europe and Australia, where they are the main "Center-Right" parties) or Libertarians (in the US). Branch 2: This group (led by thinkers like T.H. Green) began to argue that true freedom was impossible in a state of desperate poverty. A "starving man," they argued, "is not free." They came to believe that the state had a positive duty to step in and help people achieve a baseline of dignity and opportunity. This branch evolved into various forms of social liberalism and democratic socialism. This "divorce" is precisely why the word "liberal" means the exact opposite in different parts of the world: in the US, it means Center-Left, while in Europe and Australia, "Liberal" parties are Center-Right.

Conservatism

Core Tenet: Modern Conservatism is rooted in the philosophy of Edmund Burke, who was a skeptic of the radical, violent, and abstract "reason" of the French Revolution. At its core, Conservatism is not a rigid ideology but a disposition.

The Blend: It is a pragmatic disposition that is skeptical of "radical" change (from any quadrant, including the Auth-Right). It emphasizes gradual reform, pragmatism, and a respect for the wisdom of tradition (an Auth-Right principle). It believes institutions like the family, religion, and local community are the essential bedrock of a healthy society. It supports free markets (a Lib-Right principle) as the best engine for prosperity. However, it believes these markets must be grounded in a strong moral and social framework. Unlike a pure Libertarian, a Conservative believes the state has a gentle, supportive role to play in encouraging that moral framework (e.g., through faith-based initiatives or support for traditional family structures).

Geo-Libertarianism

Core Tenet: A unique and fascinating branch of libertarianism, named for the 19th-century economist Henry George.

Analysis: Georgists are fully Lib-Right on almost everything—they are skeptical of the state and champions of free markets for goods and services. They agree on everything except for one giant, crucial detail: land.

The Method: Georgists believe that land and natural resources (e.g., oil, minerals, the electromagnetic spectrum) cannot be legitimately privately owned, because no human being created them. They are the "common inheritance of all." Their proposed solution is the "Single Tax." They advocate for the abolition of all taxes on income, sales, and capital (which they see as a tax on productive labor). All these taxes should be replaced by a single "Land Value Tax" (LVT). This is not a tax on a building or a farm; it is a fee that a "landlord" pays to the community for the privilege of exclusively using that valuable, common-resource land. This is a remarkable hybrid of Lib-Right individualism (you own 100% of what you build) and Lib-Left "common ownership" principles (the Earth itself belongs to everyone).