Over the last several years, I have started to reject classical and conservative ideas, because I came to believe education was the most crucial part of a growing society. This essay will explain how and why I believe in social democratic ideas. In my ideal society, there is no interference of the state when it comes to business. However, the ultimate aim of democratic socialism is protection and promotion of each persons equal opportunity to develop his potentialities as fully as possible (Malleson, 204, p. 230). This is why I favor government interference in sectors such as education and health care. Social democrats favor electoral politics, with a system of civil liberties and elections under a so-called representative democracy. I believe that this system is a good way of governance as it benefits all people. After careful consideration of strengths and weaknesses related to conservative and social politics, I have decided that the best ideology for me is democratic socialism.
This ideology is defined as having a market economy in which the means of production are controlled to a degree, alongside a politically democratic system of government (Malleson, 204, p. 230). Social demo
cracy is the system many European countries have, which relies on free-market capitalism combined with regulations to protect its citizens from the excesses of capitalism. Capitalism is fundamentally a positive force. But we should also be wary of large corporations, as they can gain a lot of market power through consolidation and political power via lobbying. That is why we need the government to be able to control corporate behavior and ensure that it is kept separate from the democratic process. Governments need to balance between protecting the rights of their citizens while simultaneously giving enterprises as much freedom as possible so that they can be competitive. Democratic socialism was born after WWII when many European citizens saw that Communism just didnt work and that National Socialism should not be allowed to become a real ideology (Van der Linden, 998, p. 63). Therefore, they sought reform in public health care, public schools, housing projects, pension plans and support for low-income individuals. Socialist programs and reforms make for a better society of people that are freer, more educated and able to live their lives to the fullest (Van der Linden, 998, p. 63).