Agrarian Socialism
"The land will be returned to those who work it with their hands."
Agrarian Socialism is an ideology that combines an Agrarian lifestyle with a
Socialist economic system. It is usually
culturally Conservative, but not always and inhabits a moderate position in the
Left-half of the political compass. Agrarian socialism promotes social ownership of agrarian and agricultural production as opposed to private ownership. Agrarian socialism involves equally distributing agricultural land among collectivized peasant villages. Unlike most other forms of Socialism, it believes that the peasant class should form the basis of Socialist society instead of the
workers. As such, while not explicitly opposing technological progress, it prefers a simpler agriculture-based society over the
industrial one.
History
China
- From Agriculturalism (4th century BCE) to ..., to God Worshipping Society (18th century).
Agriculturism/Nongjia
The School of Agricultre, Agricultrism or NongJia, proposed by Xu Xing (about 372-289 BCE) in the State of Chu during the Warring States period believed that Chinese society should be modeled around that of the early sage king Shennong, a folk hero who was portrayed in Chinese literature as "working in the fields, along with everyone else, and consulting with everyone else when any decision had to be reached." They encouraged farming and agriculture and taught farming and cultivation techniques, as they believed that agricultural development was the key to a stable and prosperous society.
Peng Paism
Peng Paism believes in a Tridemist China based on the peasant class with land held in common between them.
England
Diggers (17th century)
Poland
- Polish People's Party "Liberation" (1915-1931)
- Peasant's Front (1926-1931)
- Polish People's Front of Czechoslovakia (1922-1937): An Agrarian party formed by
Protestant Poles living in the
Czech part of Silesia.
- Polish People's Front "New Liberation" (1946-1947)
United People's Front (1949-1989): A satellite party of the
PZPR.
Russia
- Narodniks (c.1870-c.1890)
- Socialist Revolutionary Party (1902-1921)
Socialist Revolutionarism
The Socialist Revolutionary Party were agrarian socialists and supporters of a democratic socialist Russian republic. The ideological heirs of the Narodniks, the SRs won a mass following among the Russian peasantry by endorsing the overthrow of the Tsar and the redistribution of land to the peasants.
Philippines
Luis Taruc (1913-2005) was a Filipino revolutionary known for organizing the Hukbalahap (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon, English: People's Anti-Japanese Army) armed guerrilla movement of the Philippine Communist Party formed by the peasant farmers of Central Luzon, in the
Philippines. After the Japanese invasion, peasant leaders met on March 29, 1942, to form a united organization.
Though the Huks fought the Japanese, they also tried to thwart the
US, and therefore were not accorded U.S. recognition or benefits at the end of the war.
the Huks numbered less than 2,000 by 1954 and without the protection and support of local supporters, active Huk resistance no longer presented a serious threat to Philippine security. In 1954, Operation Thunder-Lightning was conducted and resulted in the surrender of the leader of the Huks in May.
Variants
Agrarian Social Democracy
Agrarian Social Democracy (also known as Social Agrarianism) is a center-left political ideology which combines Agrarianism with
Social Democracy. He stresses widespread ownership of wealth-generating property, political decentralization, and a preference for small communities in the context of a
well-regulated market economy with
generous welfare programs. Despite having similar goals to
Christian Democracy and
Distributism, he tends to support
Secularism and other
progressive causes. (The ideology itself is culturally variable, however.) He can also be seen as a moderate form of
Agrarian Socialism.
Tenants
Though not to the extent of Socialism, Agrarian Social Democracy is more radical in his opposition to economic inequality than SocDem. Especially after the latter adopted a
pro-growth neoliberal stances in the late 20th century. He believes excess inequality, monopoly, and monopsony is a threat to democratic institutions and human rights; through
lobbying and bribery the wealthiest have the loudest voices, breeding avraice and corruption. AgSocDem prefers local-level production and consumption.
This contempt for inequality and preference for localism manifests in the form of suppressing wealth concentration in favor of widespread property ownership. He has various means of achieving this, although not universally accepted by his followers, including:
- Policies designed to
increase competition.
- The
breaking up of large industries and trusts (e.g., Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Banking, and Big Oil).
- Limiting business size directly through other anti-trust legislation (e.g., outlawing vertical integration).
- Decentralizing currency through community banks and credit unions, while also limiting or prohibiting interest or usury.
- A tax on the
unimproved value of land to deprive the landed elites of a tool to suppress unlanded commoners.
Wealth caps (like the maximum wage).
- Subsidies and tax incentives for family-owned small businesses and farms (e.g., self-employment assistance, tax breaks, and loans for aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups).
- Removing or reforming unfair business privileges—like limited liability, patents, and ineffective regulations—to level the playing field.
Protection of local industries and farmers.
AgSocDem supports locally-owned businesses,
worker-owned enterprises (which are usually small-scale),
collective farms, and
smallholdings. He sees small-scale producers as more innovative, accountable,
greener, and a stepping stone towards
autonomous local communities. Loans for entry-level farmers, tax incentives for agricultural co-ops, and discouraging land speculation also empowers rural areas.
However, in cases of natural monopoly and necessary economies of scale like electricity and aircraft manufacturing, AgSocDem usually supports state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Profits generated will go towards
safety nets, infrastructure, education, and
subsidies for local entrepreneurs. A great example of this is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO)—a for-profit state-owned enterprise which sells alcohol in shops. LCBO's profits, ranging in the billions, go towards Ontario's provincial programs and functions. As of 2019 they sell hard liquor, wine, and beer.
AgSocDem also supports decentralized welfare programs and
regulatory agencies.
Canada's Medicaid is a great example of the former—it is mandated and funded primarily by the federal government, but provincially and locally supplied. Most welfare programs in
Denmark are coordinated and financed on the municipal level. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States
is a regulatory agency; though having a federal office which sets minimum standards, the rest is handled by regional, state, and local offices with autonomy.
AgSocDem is culturally variable. In the West he's usually a civil libertarian; others are
progressive, seeing urban inequality as holding back positive scientific, medical, and technological advances. Followers tends to like
direct democracy and a
constitution protecting human rights. Many AgSocDem followers may see a strong central government as necessary for creating their ideal system. Others may champion achieving their reforms on the local or provincial level instead.
Personality and Behaviour
WIP
How to Draw
- Draw a ball,
- Colour the bottom-half of the ball in red (#FF0100),
- Colour the top-half of the ball in green (#009900),
- Draw a yellow (#ECE710) bundle of wheat in the center
- Add the eyes
- (optional) Add a straw hat (either the round Western one or the conical Eastern)
- You're done!
Color Name | HEX | RGB | |
---|---|---|---|
Red | #FF0100 | rgb(255, 1, 0) | |
Green | #009900 | rgb(0, 153, 0) | |
Yellow | #ECE710 | rgb(236, 231, 16) |
Relations
Friends
Agrarianism - FARM TIME; ALL THE TIME!
Socialism - The rural farmers should collectively own the grain they're entitled to.
Conservative Socialism - You seem to understand me. Just be a little more progressive.
Castroism - You liked cows and so do we.
Ho Chi Minh Thought - Honestly, Uncle Ho was really based!
Neozapatismo - A federation of rural peasant communes sounds like paradise to me.
Liberal Socialism - Kerensky, is that you?
Market Socialism - He'll bring the cream to all of us.
Sewer Socialism - Your variant in Oklahoma was based. Shame it no longer exists anymore.
What do you mean the city and sewers is where it's at?Pol Potism - My grandson. I really appreciate your focus on Agrarianism but oh lord are you psychotic.
Frenemies
Populareism - My Roman Republic ancestor, but you don't pursue the real solution for the land question.
Marxism - Socialism can be achieved in agricultural societies, in fact, it's ideal in them!
Marxism-Leninism - Your kolkhoz system is interesting, but many innocent people died during collectivisation.
Maoism - You’re really great, but JUST QUIT HANGING OUT WITH STALIN!
Agrarian Anarchism - Hello fellow agrarians, please be more organized.
National Agrarianism - Misguided brother.
Reactionary Socialism - Your support for traditionalism is based but tone it down. WAY, WAY down.
National Bolshevism - Look above.
Anarcho-Communism - Modern followers are too urban for my liking but Kropotkin and Makhno were based and agro-pilled!
Labour Zionism - The Kibbutzim were based, shame many of them went for privatization.
Georgism - Hmmm, your heart is in the right place but still too cappie.
Enemies
Optimateism - Landlords and their greed was the real reason why Rome fell.
Feudalism - Strange women lyin' in ponds and distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government!
Authoritarian Capitalism,
Kleptocracy, &
Corporatocracy - COME HERE, YA BITCHES!
Banana Republicanism - With folk like you, is it any wonder I'm a socialist.
Agrarian Capitalism - You betrayed the egalitarian intentions of our father with your greater demands from the serf class.
Neoconservatism - Fake conservative, the tool of imperialism!
Neoliberalism - Calls me a redneck
Nazbol.
Pink Capitalism - Disgusting lazy urbanite!
Fordism - This is what capitalism leads to!
Imperialism - You have caused nothing but pain and suffering.
But Greeley supported Manifest DestinyTsarism - You waited for a century to emancipate the serfs, and even when you did, you made them pay for the fields they toiled on for generations, and now you are wondering that peasants are dissatisfied? Land and Freedom!
Black Hundredism - If your dear Tsar really cared about peasants, they wouldn't have deserted his army at the first opportunity.
Further Information
Literature
- Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904-1920 by Duncan Stewart
- Peasants, Agrarian Socialism, and Rural Development in Ethiopia by Alemneh Dejene
- Agrarian Socialism: Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan by S. M. Lipset
- Yeomen, Sharecroppers and Socialists: Plain Folk Protest in Texas, 1870-1914 by Kyle G. Wilkison11
Articles
- The complicated legacy of César Chávez By Sean Saldana
Wikipedia
- Agrarian Socialism
- Agriculturalism/Nongjia
- Diggers
- Socialist Revolutionary Party
- Narodniks
- Agricultural People's Front of Peru
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
- Socialist Party of Oklahoma
Gallery
-
Agrarian Communism
- ↑ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/norbertobriceno/diego-luna-drapes-a-union-flag-over-la-city-hall
- ↑ Cesar Chavez used Falange chants and aesthetics in his messages and based his flag on the Falange.
- ↑ During the Russian Civil War, he personally supported neither side, as he opposed both the Bolshevik regime and the White Movement.
- ↑ https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/katters-parallel-universe/news-story/9be4f92d30c67fb83d90278455ee1a5c