Definition: Socialism is a political term applied to an economic system in which property is held in common and not individually, and relationships are governed by a political hierarchy.
Common ownership doesn't mean decisions are made collectively, however.
Instead, individuals in positions of authority make decisions in the name of the collective group.
Regardless of the picture painted of socialism by its proponents, it ultimately removes group decision making in favor of the choices of one all-important individual.
Socialism originally involved the replacement of private property with a market exchange, but history has proven this ineffective.
Socialism cannot prevent people from competing for what is scarce.
Socialism as we know it today, most commonly refers to "market socialism,"
which involves individual market exchanges organized by collective planning.
People often confuse "socialism" with the concept of "communism."
While the two ideologies share much in common -- in in fact communism encompasses socialism -- the primary difference between the two is that "socialism" applies to economic systems,
whereas "communism" applies to both economic and political systems.
Another difference between socialism and communism is that communists directly oppose the concept of capitalism, an economic system in which production is controlled by private interests.
Socialists, on the other hand, believe socialism can exist within a capitalist society.
Pronunciation: soeshoolizim
Also Known As: Bolshevism, Fabianism, Leninism, Maoism, Marxism, collective ownership, collectivism, communism, state ownerhsip
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Examples: "Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality.
But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."
-- French historian and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville
"As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents."
-- author George Orwell
Communism |
Socialism |
|
|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. Free-access to the articles of consumption is made possible by advances in technology that allow for super-abundance. | From each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution. Emphasis on profit being distributed among the society or workforce to complement individual wages/salaries. |
| Ideas | All people are the same and therefore classes make no sense. The government should own all means of production and land and also everything else. People should work for the government and the collective output should be redistributed equally. | All individuals should have access to basic articles of consumption and public goods to allow for self-actualization. Large-scale industries are collective efforts and thus the returns from these industries must benefit society as a whole. |
| Key Proponents | Karl Marx, Fredrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky. | Robert Owen, Pierre Leroux, Karl Marx, Fredrick Engels, John Stuart Mill, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Thorstein Veblen, Emma Goldman. |
| Key Elements | Centralized government, planned economy, dictatorship of the "proletariat", common ownership of the tools of production, no private property. equality between genders and all people, international focus. Usually anti-democratic with a 1-party system. | Economic activity and production especially are adjusted by the State to meet human needs and economic demands. "Production for use": useful goods and services are produced specifically for their usefulness. |
| Political System | A communist society is stateless, classless and is governed directly by the people. This however has never been practised. | Can coexist with different political systems. Most socialists advocate participatory democracy, some (Social Democrats) advocate parliamentary democracy, and Marxist-Leninists advocate "Democratic centralism." |
| Political Movements | Leninism, Trotskyism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, Left-Communism, Stalinism. | Democratic socialism, communism, libertarian socialism, social anarchism, and syndicalism. |
| Private Property | Abolished. The concept of property is negated and replaced with the concept of commons and ownership with "usership". | Two kinds of property: Personal property, such as houses, clothing, etc. owned by the individual. Public property includes factories, and means of production owned by the State but with worker control. |
| Economic Coordination | Economic planning coordinates all decisions regarding investment, production and resource allocation. Planning is done in terms of physical units instead of money. | Planned-socialism relies principally on planning to determine investment and production decisions. Planning may be centralized or decentralized. Market-socialism relies on markets for allocating capital to different socially-owned enterprises. |
| Definition | International theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, with actual ownership ascribed to the community or state. Rejection of free markets and extreme distrust of Capitalism in any form. | A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of most property in common, with actual ownership ascribed to the workers. |
| Religion | Abolished - all religious and metaphysics is rejected. | Freedom of religion, but usually promotes secularism. |
| Ownership Structure | The means of production are commonly-owned, meaning no entity or individual owns productive property. Importance is ascribed to "usership" over "ownership". | The means of production are socially-owned with the surplus value produced accruing to either all of society (in Public-ownership models) or to all the employee-members of the enterprise (in Cooperative-ownership models). |
| Social Structure | All class distinctions are eliminated. | Class distinctions are diminished. Status derived more from political distinctions than class distinctions. Some mobility. |
| Economic System | The means of production are held in common, negating the concept of ownership in capital goods. Production is organized to provide for human needs directly without any use for money. Communism is predicated upon a condition of material abundance. | The means of production are owned by public enterprises or cooperatives, and individuals are compensated based on the principle of individual contribution. Production may variously be coordinated through either economic planning or markets. |
| Free Choice | Either the collective "vote" or the state's rulers make economic and political decisions for everyone else. In practice, rallies, force, propaganda etc. are used by the rulers to control the populace. | Religion, jobs, & marriage are up to the individual. Compulsory education. Free, equal access to healthcare & education provided through a socialized system funded by taxation. Production decisions driven more by State decision than consumer demand. |
| Discrimination | In theory, all members of the state are considered equal. | The people are considered equal; laws are made when necessary to protect people from discrimination. Immigration is often tightly controlled. |
| Way of Change | Government in a Communist-state is the agent of change rather than any market or desire on the part of consumers. Change by government can be swift or slow, depending on change in ideology or even whim. | Workers in a socialist state are the nominal agent of change rather than any market or desire on the part of consumers. Change by the State on behalf of workers can be swift or slow, depending on change in ideology or even whim. |
| Examples | Ideally, there is no leader; the people govern directly. This has never been actually practiced, and has just used a one-party system. Examples 0f Communist states are the erstwhile Soviet Union, Cuba and North Korea. | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR): although the actual categorization of the USSR's economic system is in dispute, it is often considered to be a form of centrally-planned socialism. |
| Earliest Remnants | Theorized by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in the mid-19th century as an alternative to capitalism and feudalism, communism was not tried out until after the revolution in Russia in the early 1910s. | In 1516, Thomas More write in "Utopia" about a society based around common ownership of property. In 1776, Adam Smith advocated the labor theory of value, ignoring the previous Cantillonian view that prices are derived from supply and demand. |
Our conversation is OVER, sphincter!