Atlas / Comparisons / Classical Liberalism vs Stalinism
Classical Liberalism and Stalinism
Measured distance across six axes
Opposite ends of the recorded space. No axis places them within three points of each other. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, AU, SC, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Manchester School | Socialism in one country | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +09 | −10 | 19 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | −02 | +03 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −07 | +10 | 17 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −03 | +10 | 13 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −03 | +03 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −04 | +08 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Manchester School · EC +09
Coded +9: free exchange as the organising principle of policy.
- Documented act or statuteThe Anti-Corn Law League secured repeal in 1846, the defining victory of the school.
Socialism in one country · EC −10
Private ownership of productive assets was eliminated outright and allocation was set by physical plan targets rather than prices.
- Documented act or statuteThe first Five-Year Plan from 1928 placed all industry under state ownership and central targets.
- Documented act or statuteCollectivisation from 1929 abolished private farming; roughly a quarter of a million households were deported as kulaks.
Manchester School · AU −07
Coded −7: constitutional limitation as the school's founding commitment.
- Programme textWealth of Nations and On Liberty both treat concentrated authority as the standing danger.
Socialism in one country · AU +10
The party itself was destroyed as an autonomous body, which places this above ordinary one-party rule.
- Documented act or statuteOf the 1934 Central Committee, roughly two-thirds were shot within four years.
- Documented act or statuteFactions had been banned inside the party since 1921; by 1937 mere association was capital.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Classical Liberalism
1776–1900 · Britain, Europe
Individual liberty, free trade, freedom of contract, religious toleration, constitutional and limited government.
Stalinism
1928–1953 · USSR
Forced industrialisation and collectivisation under a single leader identified with the party, the state and history itself.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
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