They put forward a program of economic reform in the interests of small property holders—complete equality before the law, the abolition of trading monopolies, the reopening of enclosed land, security of land tenure for copyholders, no conscription (impressment) or billeting, drastic law reform, the abolition of tithes (and so of a state church), and complete freedom of religious worship and organization.
Yeah. You might be right. The socialists claim them though so I think that's where I got it confused. The movement was definitely the seeds of both modern day egalitarianism and socialism. Two different extremes.
I guess my misunderstanding was I thought the founding fathers criticized them instead of embraced them. I'm not sure that they really directly wrote about them.
Strange and interesting that the BEST and the WORST political ideologies ever possibly stem from the same short-lived movement in England nearly 400 years ago.
I think the ideology itself isn't new, even pre-Christian Russia had a form of a representative government, for instance, and we are talking like 9th century and shit.
You don't seem to know your history: https://www.britannica.com/event/Leveler-English-history
Yeah. You might be right. The socialists claim them though so I think that's where I got it confused. The movement was definitely the seeds of both modern day egalitarianism and socialism. Two different extremes.
I guess my misunderstanding was I thought the founding fathers criticized them instead of embraced them. I'm not sure that they really directly wrote about them.
There were "Diggers" also, maybe that's who you were thinking about.
This is an interesting take on it. Diggers called themselves the "True Levellers."
Somebody else mentioned the diggers. Found this and figured I might as well pass it on.
http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/sects-and-factions/diggers
Yes. Good stuff, thanks for sharing.
The history of these ideas development is a pretty fascinating subject if you look at it from the perspective of humanity's collective consciousness.
Strange and interesting that the BEST and the WORST political ideologies ever possibly stem from the same short-lived movement in England nearly 400 years ago.
I think the ideology itself isn't new, even pre-Christian Russia had a form of a representative government, for instance, and we are talking like 9th century and shit.