Leftist politics and politics, in general, can be very wordy and sometimes inaccessible. The entire point of this website is to discuss politics in a simplified and easy to understand way so that the youth can begin to become politically aware. Below are some simple definitions of commonly used terms in political discourse. These definitions are in alphabetical order. If you are looking to find one definition, in particular, use the (Command + F) keys or (Control + f) keys to use direct search.
Anarchism
Anarchism is a political ideology and philosophy that rejects authority, hierarchy and involuntary structure. To achieve an anarchist society there would need to be the abolition of any state which is considered to be harmful, unjust and unnecessary. Anarchists believe that in any hierarchy there will be people at the bottom who are exploited and therefore the hierarchy should not exist in the first place. Anarchists believe in egalitarianism and community in order to establish social programs to sustain everyone.
Anarcho-communism
Anarcho-communism is a political school of thought revolving around anarchist philosophy. It pushes for the abolition of capitalism, the state, social hierarchies, wage labour and private property. It favours common ownership of the means of production and direct democracy. A lot of anarcho-communist thought comes in the philosophy of "From each according to his ability to each according to his need." which was first introduced by Karl Marx.
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a political school of thought also revolving around anarchist philosophy. It views industrial unionism or syndicalism as the best way for the proletariat (workers) to gain control of the means of production (private property/resources). Controlling the means of production, therefore, helps them gain control of the economy and influence broader society.
Apoliticism
Apoliticism is when you lack care or empathy towards any political affiliation. You are apolitical if you refrain from getting involved in politics due to a lack of interest or care.
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a type of government that rejects individuals ability to hold different political views. It uses a centralised government to maintain the status quo while diminishing the separation of powers and democratic elections.
Bourgeoisie / Bourgeois
The Bourgeoisie is the upper class who maintain a large portion of societies wealth while the bourgeois is the capitalist class that own most of society's wealth and means of production (resources/capital).
Capitalism
Capitalism is a system of economics where there is private ownership of the means of production (resources/capital) and they use these means of production to accumulate profit. A small percentage of people hoard the wealth of a capitalist country.
Centrist
A centrist is someone whose political views do not belong to one side. They tend to believe their political affiliations are above those of people who are loyal to one political philosophy.
Class consciousness
Class consciousness is when a person is aware of or knowledgeable about the caste system and its impacts on the social hierarchy. The systems often base themselves on wealth and family backgrounds. Intersectionality of race, class and gender often help develop a deeper understanding of class and class immobility.
Class struggle
Class struggle, as defined by Marx, occurs when the bourgeoisie (the wealthy business owners) pay the workers (proletariat) minimal amounts of money to produce items for them to sell. The workers would have no choice whether or not they make the products or what products to make. The workers have no say as they rely on the bourgeoisie for and income and employment.
Commodity
A commodity is an item, usually good or service, produced by human labour and sold on the market. Usually produced to satisfy a human need of some kind.
Communism
Communism is a stateless, moneyless classless society. There are many schools of communist thought, which cannot be covered by just one definition and need to be covered separately. Marx defined communism as a system whose philosophy is from each according to his ability to each according to his need. This school of thought provides a basis for most branches of communist thought.
Conservative
Conservative philosophy is a political and social idealogy mainly revolving around maintaining social order and traditional values. The main pillars of conservatism vary depending on location and school of conservative thought, but they all return to upholding the status quo.
Eco-fascism
Eco-fascism is an ideology revolving around the totalitarian desire for the forceful sacrifice of needs and wants to protect the environment. These sacrifices are generally forced upon minority populations as eco-fascism is often paired with white supremacy.
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a political philosophy that relies on concepts of social, political and economic equality. Egalitarian schools of thought generally find themselves in left-wing ideologies within the idea that all humans have inherent worth.
Fascist
Fascist ideology can be described as far-right, dictatorial, authoritarian, ultranationalistic and oppressive. For a more in-depth, description see the article on Donald Trump.
Global economy
A Global economy refers to the economic system that is shared by the individual countries in the world. In this case, our Global economy operates in a capitalist system.
Global south
The Global south generally refers to regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is used as a signifier of the countries most prone to colonial violence from the west or countries sometimes referred to as developing nations. The term is used to help understand the separation between the large imperial powers and those countries that are being marginalized.
This will be somewhat regularly updated. If you have anything to add to any definition please comment below!
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