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[[File:Centmarxf.png]] The Centrists were a major faction within the SPD, which theory is mainly based on the works of [[File:Kautsky.png]] Karl Kautsky. While embracing revolution, they support parliamentarianism (as a tactic to get more popular). A fundamental belief of theirs is the concept of the merger formula, which emphasizes the role of intellectuals in creating socialist consciousness and theory. However, these intellectuals, having no material need for liberation, cannot be the subject of social revolution. A quote from the newspaper Die Neue Zeit written in 1902 by Karl Kautsky illustrates this concept "''<u>Modern socialist consciousness can arise only on the basis of profound scientific knowledge. Indeed, modern economic science is as much a condition for socialist production as, say, modern technology, and the proletariat can create neither the one nor the other, no matter how much it may desire to do so; both arise out of the modern social process. The vehicle of science is not the proletariat, but the bourgeois intelligentsia: it was in the minds of individual members of this stratum that modern socialism originated, and it was they who communicated it to the more intellectually developed proletarians who, in their turn, introduce it into the proletarian class struggle where conditions allow that to be done. Thus, socialist consciousness is something introduced into the proletarian class struggle from without and not something that arose within it spontaneously.</u>''". It should be said, however, that Centrists believe that the main vehicle for social change should be the mass movement of the proletariat, instead of something like the vanguard party and such. |
[[File:Centmarxf.png]] The Centrists were a major faction within the SPD, which theory is mainly based on the works of [[File:Kautsky.png]] Karl Kautsky. While embracing revolution, they support parliamentarianism (as a tactic to get more popular). A fundamental belief of theirs is the concept of the merger formula, which emphasizes the role of intellectuals in creating socialist consciousness and theory. However, these intellectuals, having no material need for liberation, cannot be the subject of social revolution. A quote from the newspaper Die Neue Zeit written in 1902 by Karl Kautsky illustrates this concept "''<u>Modern socialist consciousness can arise only on the basis of profound scientific knowledge. Indeed, modern economic science is as much a condition for socialist production as, say, modern technology, and the proletariat can create neither the one nor the other, no matter how much it may desire to do so; both arise out of the modern social process. The vehicle of science is not the proletariat, but the bourgeois intelligentsia: it was in the minds of individual members of this stratum that modern socialism originated, and it was they who communicated it to the more intellectually developed proletarians who, in their turn, introduce it into the proletarian class struggle where conditions allow that to be done. Thus, socialist consciousness is something introduced into the proletarian class struggle from without and not something that arose within it spontaneously.</u>''". It should be said, however, that Centrists believe that the main vehicle for social change should be the mass movement of the proletariat, instead of something like the vanguard party and such. |
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=== [[File:Lassalle.png]]'''Lassalleism''' === |
=== [[File:Lassalle.png]] '''Lassalleism''' === |
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Classical Social Democracy, emerging in the late 19th century, encompassed diverse ideological currents that sought to address the social and economic upheavals brought about by industrialization and capitalism. One significant strand was Lassalleism, named after Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-1864). Lassalleism diverged from classical liberalism by emphasizing that political freedoms alone were insufficient to address the material conditions of the working class. Lassalle initially viewed Otto von Bismarck's policies favorably, seeing potential in state intervention to enact social reforms beneficial to workers. However, disillusionment followed as Bismarck's conservatism became apparent. |
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Central to Lassalle's thought was his adaptation of Hegelian philosophy, particularly in his view of the state as a mediator of social conflicts and an agent for advancing social justice. His approach to achieving socialist goals was through legal and electoral means, advocating for workers' rights, universal suffrage, and state-sponsored worker cooperatives. This reformist socialism, however, faced critiques from more revolutionary perspectives, notably from Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895). Marxists argued that Lassalle's focus on state intervention and state socialism did not go far enough in addressing the root causes of exploitation inherent in capitalism, critisizing Lassalle's views for advocating reforms that preserved capitalist relations rather than transcending them through revolutionary action. |
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===== State ===== |
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In contrast with Marx and his adherents, Lassalle rejected the idea that the state was a class-based power structure with the function of preserving existing class relations and destined to wither away in a future classless society. Instead, Lassalle considered the state as an independent entity, an instrument of justice essential for the achievement of the socialist program. |
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Lassalle accepted the economic theories of classical economist David Ricardo (1772-1823), particularly the notion that wage rates tended towards the minimum level necessary for the subsistence and reproduction of workers. Building upon this, Lassalle formulated his own "iron law of wages," arguing that individual efforts by wage workers to improve their conditions were futile without state-supported measures. He advocated for producers' cooperatives financed by the state as the path to economic improvement for workers, emphasizing that political action to capture state power was paramount. Lassalle saw trade unions focusing on wage improvements as a secondary concern compared to the broader struggle for political influence and economic reform. In addition to his economic and political theories, Lassalle was influenced by the philosophical ideas of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, whom he held in high regard. In a speech in May 1862, Lassalle praised Fichte's Addresses to the German Nation as "one of the mightiest monuments of fame" in human literature, underscoring the depth and power he perceived in Fichte's work. |
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===== Iron law of wages ===== |
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Lassalle accepted the idea first posited by the classical economist David Ricardo that wage rates in the long term tended towards the minimum level necessary to sustain the life of the worker and to provide for his reproduction. In accord with the law of rent, Lassalle coined his own iron law of wages. Lassalle argued that individual measures of self-help by wage workers were destined to failure and that only producers' cooperatives established with the financial aid of the state would make economic improvement of the workers' lives possible. From this, it followed that the political action of the workers to capture the power of the state was paramount and the organization of trade unions to struggle for ephemeral wage improvements is more or less a diversion from the primary struggle. |
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Alongside Lassalleism, other strands of early Social Democracy included Ricardian Socialism, which drew on the labor theory of value and called for the collective ownership of the means of production by workers. This perspective critiqued both Lassallean and Marxist approaches, emphasizing the need to abolish private ownership and replace it with cooperative management. The tension between state socialism advocated by Lassalle and the more revolutionary visions articulated by Marx and Engels underscored the diverse trajectories within the broader socialist movement. |
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===== Philosophy ===== |
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Lassalle considered Johann Gottlieb Fichte as "one of the mightiest thinkers of all peoples and ages", praising Fichte's Addresses to the German Nation in a May 1862 speech as "one of the mightiest monuments of fame which our people possesses, and which, in depth and power, far surpass everything of this sort which has been handed down to us from the literature of all time and peoples". |
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As Social Democracy evolved, particularly in the 20th century, it encompassed welfarism and the promotion of workplace democracy. Welfarism focused on using state mechanisms to provide social safety nets, healthcare, education, and other social services, while maintaining a regulated market economy. Meanwhile, advocates of workplace democracy, influenced by thinkers like William Morris (1834-1896) and Paul Lafargue (1841-1911), emphasized the importance of worker ownership and democratic control of enterprises as a means to democratize economic decision-making. |
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===[[File:Luxem.png]] Spartacist Left=== |
===[[File:Luxem.png]] Spartacist Left=== |
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==How to Draw== |
==How to Draw== |
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===Symbols=== |
===Symbols=== |
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====Flag==== |
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