proto-socialism

Is there anyway to make a proto socialist and progressive movement like the levellers successful? Could it displace liberalism as the opposition to the old ways?
 
Potentially if the Levellers were more dominant in the New Model Army.

It isn't a part of history that I'm deeply familiar with, but if the Levellers could entrench in the army more deeply, perhaps compromising on election based on land ownership (alongside the division of land and the payment of the New Model Army with land). That might form a compromise with the Grandees, and if rejected, could be made bloody. (I hope to avoid that).

After that, since the Army is the heart of the electorate, the Levellers can pretty much out-vote the Grandees to progress their ideas further. Moving the vote from just the Army to the populace.

It could be quite interesting, especially as it brings in political thought closer to Georgism, and thus a land-tax and the sense of common ownership of natural resources, if not property.

Yeah, I think they just need to organise and if a Militarist Leveller faction gets involved, with the aforementioned idea. Ideally without slaughtering the Grandees as they can provide an element of an opposition.
 
The Levellers weren't the proto-socialists, that was the Diggers. The Levellers were very early democrats.

Yes, the Diggers (who called themselves the True Levelers) were supporters of a sort of agrarian communism while the Levelers were so moderate by comparison, that they were practically completely different things.

I can't see the Diggers/True Levelers taking over the Commonwealth at this time (barring a disastrous war that basically knocks the country into anarchy), but I could see them being the ideological beginnings of a philosophical movement that could gain a lot of traction.

The issue with socialism replacing liberalism is that socialism is meant to benefit the working class while liberalism was meant to benefit the merchant class. The merchants were wealthy and wanted free trade and personal liberties (while being opposed by ancient aristocracies). I'm not sure how you can get working class social mobilization to take place hundreds of years earlier, but you definitely can. It'd be difficult to have something like socialism instead of liberalism become the main opposition to the old order pre-1800s, but it's possible.
 
Yes, the Diggers (who called themselves the True Levelers) were supporters of a sort of agrarian communism while the Levelers were so moderate by comparison, that they were practically completely different things.

I can't see the Diggers/True Levelers taking over the Commonwealth at this time (barring a disastrous war that basically knocks the country into anarchy), but I could see them being the ideological beginnings of a philosophical movement that could gain a lot of traction.

The issue with socialism replacing liberalism is that socialism is meant to benefit the working class while liberalism was meant to benefit the merchant class. The merchants were wealthy and wanted free trade and personal liberties (while being opposed by ancient aristocracies). I'm not sure how you can get working class social mobilization to take place hundreds of years earlier, but you definitely can. It'd be difficult to have something like socialism instead of liberalism become the main opposition to the old order pre-1800s, but it's possible.
Are there any anarchic movements that are more peasant/serf focused that could potentially incorporate urban workers?
 
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