Most Powerful Isms Political Ideas example essay topic

In the 19th Century, many political ideas came about and these are known as "isms". Some isms still have a powerful influence on our society today, while others do not even exist anymore. The four different "isms" that will be discussed are Feudalism, Imperialism, Socialism, and Nationalism; being listed from the least important to the most powerful and most influential in today's society. Feudalism is basically a system where the political power is determined by the amount of land a person owns. Back in the 18th Century the upper class and royalty owned the most land and so they had the most political power. Even though the majority of the population did not agree, the people had no chance to have any say about the government, and they had to obey the laws.

Examples where feudalism existed include countries such as France, Germany and Britain. This political system went through changes during those years. As people became more educated, there were many more philosophers who realised that rules about society should be based on reason and that everyone is created equal. This is the reason why this system is not used in our society any longer and so it is the least important "ism". The next least important "ism" would probably have to be imperialism.

Imperialism is the wish to gain and keep control of colonies. This started with the industrial revolution because the imperialist countries needed more raw materials for use in their own factories. A number of European trading companies took control and interfered with native cultures and lifestyles with their disruptive activities. An example for this was when Britain used cotton from India and sold it back to India in the form of cloth and also increased the price, which made it very difficult for the Indians to sell their cloth. However nowadays, imperialism does not have as much affect on people anymore. Socialism has lots of impact on our society, but it is still not the most powerful "ism".

It is the new reforming force, which has a belief in equal opportunities and equality in wealth for everyone in society. Socialists believe that for people to have equal opportunities and rights, the right to work and protection from exploitation by employers, education was needed. However, to achieve this completely the socialists came up with the theory that richer people should pay more tax and the poor should be helped by the government. This idea has greatly concerned the owners of industries. Unfortunately many people took the ideas too an extreme, known as communism. However they do not influence people much, even though they still exist today.

The last, but definitely not the least "ism" to be discussed is nationalism. Nationalism is an emotional ideal for people who share the same language, culture and lifestyle as well as have political control over their own homeland. There are a few countries in Europe, which did not even exist until recently, for example, Germany, and Italy only became independent in 1871. There are actually several aspects of nationalism; in some cases nationalism has been taken to extremes and lead to terrorism and racial intolerance, which most of the time has led to wars. Many of the countries in Asia and Africa experienced this situation and during the 20th Century have worked towards gaining their independence.

This is the "ism" that has the most impact and shaped the 19th Century history, and in fact is still very influential and powerful today. Each and everyone of the "isms" has their importance and meanings in different ways; some are more powerful than others. As time changes, the impact of every "isms" also changes, therefore the most powerful may not be the most important. However, nationalism is probably the greatest influential "ism" and is affecting the world as can be seen by many significant events happening today.