Compare and contrast liberalism and socialism. How were these ideologies alike? How were they different?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include:
a. Liberalism and socialism share a common commitment to freedom and equality; however, they define those concepts in different ways.
b. Liberals define freedom in economic terms, as reflected in the commitment to laissez-faire capitalism with its promotion of free trade and protection of property rights.
c. Socialists identify the abolition of private property as a precondition of freedom; they believe that resources should be in the hands of the community or the state, not in private hands.
d. Liberals define equality in political and legal terms. In the nineteenth century, that meant giving white male property owners the right to vote and upholding the principle, if not necessarily the reality, of equality before the law.
e. In addition to political and legal equality, socialists also define equality in social and economic terms.
f. Socialist calls for change include extending the right to vote to the working class and women, legal protections for workers, creating ideal communities, and launching a proletarian revolution to create a classless society.