Liberal Socialism

The phrase “liberal socialism” has a strange sound to many who are accustomed to current political terminology. The word “liberalism” unfortunately has been used to smuggle so many different kinds of merchandise and has been so much the preserve of the bourgeoisie in the past, that today a socialist has difficulty bringing himself to use it. But I do not wish to propose a new party terminology here. I wish only to bring the socialist movement back to its first principles, to its historical and psychological origins, and to demonstrate that socialism, in the last analysis, is a philosophy of liberty.

In any case, the time when bourgeois politics and liberal, free-market politics were one and the same has passed. All over the world the bourgeoisies no longer defend free markets and are no longer necessarily liberal. The more the proletarian movement takes hold and an active sense of liberty gains strength among the masses, the more the bourgeoisie, in it...