It’s time to get social (but please do NOT get social right now). Please look over chapter 21 and chapter 22‘s notes and add them to your notebooks as needed. It would also be good to read the chapters as well. If you get an error message on Chrome about Microsoft 365 being a malware site, just ignore it and power on – it’s the new Chrome update’s fault and they’re working on fixing it.
Make sure you view the following two Crash Course videos. The former talks about post-Napoleon Europe and the leadership’s response of “oh, is that what happens when you’re Enlightened? FORGET THAT.” The second discusses labor laws, social protest, and the rise of socialism.
One thing about socialism I’d like you to remember, because from here on out it tends to pop up a lot, is that it becomes popular in times of great economic uncertainty. You see it again post-WWI in Germany, during the Great Depression in the US, post WWII in Eastern Europe and Asia, democratic socialism in Europe, and in the US after the 2008 housing market crash and Great Recession. We’re about to get another rise of it soon depending on the effects of the coronavirus on worldwide economies.
When you are done, please read “The Decline of Political Liberalism” by F.H. Hinsley and The Unfinished Revolution: Marxism Interpreted by Adam Ulam. In the comments, explain to me why you believe (or don’t) that political liberalism didn’t die and why you believe (or don’t) that Marx’s revolution is still in progress. Please use examples from the texts. Please post your responses by Friday at 11:59, and don’t forget to ask and answer questions in the Industrial Revolution post.
If you need clarification or help posting comments, please email me!
Dr. Astorian's AP Consortium 
dan kerik (@dkerik4)
March 19, 2020
I believe that political liberalism didn’t die and that Marx’s revolution is still in progress. This is because the best political and economic system is a mix of both. Sometimes they have to be adjusted to accommodate different world events and economic instances. Ulam explains, “The class struggle is the salt of Marxism, its most operative revolutionary part” (1). When the working class is struggling, Marx’s system can help combat the problem. However, too much of Marx’s system will stunt the economy and damage the industry. We can see that Marx’s revolution is still in progress when we see progressive candidates for president, such as Bernie Sanders. The world, both politically and economically, has found that the best system is a mix of various systems. That is why political liberalism hasn’t died and Marx’s revolution is still in progress.
karinachatha
March 20, 2020
I think that political liberalism and Marx’s revolution are still definitely alive and kicking. This is because both ideas are responses to political and economic systems, and we see both of those systems today. For political liberalism, Hinsley describes public health, insurance legislation, and statewide education as ideas embraced by political liberalism. These are all things still being fought for, all across the world. As for Marx, as long as capitalism exists, people will want socialism to fight it. Ulam writes this in his last paragraph, as he explains capitalism is what the worker hates, not industry.
Taze Lamb
March 20, 2020
The idea of political liberalism has not died, but taken a new form that does tend to restrict the personal freedoms of our citizens. Authoritarianism is on the rise across the globe and with the support of the people who are being oppressed. While Russia and China have typically always been governments ruled by authoritarians, western societies have been on the forefront of freedom-based political revolutions. However, if we use the current administration of the United States as a case study, we can clearly see that power is becoming strongly concentrated in the hands of the executive office. Many individuals in the country actually seem to be in support of this change and the seeming security that it provides. Checks and balances still exist, evident by the president’s inability to completely shut down the Mueller investigation, however, authoritarianism is still, as a whole, becoming more prevalent in the west with the leader of the free world exhibiting many traits reminiscent of complete authoritarians in other parts of the globe. Political liberalism is not dead, however, it seems to be on the decline.
Marx’s revolution is no longer as strong as it once was. Marx’s ideals were radical even by today’s standards, however, parts of his ultimate theory are being slowly incorporated into even the most capitalistic economies. There are virtually no pure market economies in the world today. Even the United States is technically a socialist society, moving ever closer toward the strong socialistic practices of the western European nations. Marx’s revolution isn’t as strong as it once was, but as time continues his ideals will slowly be incorporated into all of the world’s more mature economies.
Neha Vennapusa
March 20, 2020
Political liberalism seems to me to be part of a political business cycle of sorts, it’s an inevitable reaction to absolutism/autocracy, there will always be a tug of war between “the masses and the modern states” (1) for the addition or subtraction of rights/liberties depending on current events. So while political liberalism won’t always be the leading ideology, it will always be there.
Similarly, Marx just put into unnecessarily complicated terms, the sentiments that almost every wage earner or middle-class worker have had or will have at some point in their careers. There will always be an ebb and flow of resentment between the classes based on the times, you can see it in action now as existing inequalities in regards to access to healthcare are generating criticism on the internet. While different cultures will have different levels of tolerance towards Marxism/socialism/communism the ideas will always be there, they just might flare up at times if provoked, not unlike seasonal allergies.
Vivek Raman
March 23, 2020
In the comments, explain to me why you believe (or don’t) that political liberalism didn’t die and why you believe (or don’t) that Marx’s revolution is still in progress. Please use examples from the texts
I believe that political liberalism did not die; I simply think the term should be applied more broadly. The argument Hinsley is making is that any deviation from “the minimum of government interference” in the economy is a deviation from political liberalism. Perhaps this is a form of economic liberalism but in my eyes, “political liberalism” simply means a philosophy governed by liberty and freedom among the masses. It seems like Hinsley is primarily concerned with the economic freedoms granted by political liberalism, using it as a way to measure its decline. I do agree that liberalism “became more doctrinaire and more narrowly associated with urban and big business interests,” but I would argue that the influence of these interests couldn’t overshadow the will of the people.
I do think that Marx’s revolution is still in progress. Simply put, “the class struggle is the salt of Marxism, it’s most operative revolutionary part.” As long as there is class struggle, Marx’s revolution will continue. Class divisions are essential to the capitalistic order present in Marx’s time and ours, so a constant battle will exist. However, I do agree that Marx’s optimism is a bit misguided for his time, as he expects workers to simply see through the abolition of capitalism. He doesn’t recognize workers’ inevitable “anarchistic protests and grievances” that would result from a true revolution.