Compare and Contrast American Liberalism and Marx's Ideal of Communism Essay Example

American Liberalism and Marx's ideal of Communism are based on two very different but closely related ideologies. American Liberalism is based on the ideology of Classical Liberalism or Liberalism. Marx's ideal of Communism, on the other hand, is based on the Socialism ideology. Both of these ideologies came to because people didn't agree with the way thing were being run at that time. After studying them both closely, because of they way I have been taught in school and at home that people are selfish, I believe that socialism, as good as it sounds, could never come to be because of how selfish people are.
Ideology is a word that has many definitions but, in Ball and Dagger ideology is defined as a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that explains and evaluates social conditions, helps people understand their place in society, and provides a program for social and political action. These four functions that describe ideology will set Socialism apart from Classical Liberalism. Liberalism was a rebellion against religious conformity and ascribed status of the medieval era. Some people of that time believed that the church and state should be two different entities instead of being intertwined with one another. The people wanted religious freedom and could not do that without change occurring. Ascribed status was also a major factor contributing to the move to Liberalism. People in the middle ages were tired of the fact that they could not move up in society because they had not been born into a noble family. They decided that people should be able to work to reach a certain status, or "achieved status". One of the main foundations of liberalism the encouragement of individual liberty, by any means necessary.
Capitalism is the economic system that is associated with liberalism, and in this kind of society individuals are free to pursue their own means of gaining profit without intervention of any sort of
government.