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For example, it’s become quite common for American libertarians and conservatives to refer to the collapsing Venezuelan economy as a prime example of how socialism fails, even though Venezuela hasn’t completely adopted many Marxist ideas. The primary challenge many socialists face resulting from people’s lack of understanding about socialism is that they constantly feel like they must defend their views against what socialists consider to be caricatures of their system.
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The goal of socialism is communism quote free#
When Westerners think of socialism, even self-described socialists, they typically imagine specific socialized industries or authoritarian regimes, but rarely do they contemplate the socialized societies Marx and others dreamed of making.įor instance, many American socialists support single-payer health care, free college tuition, and other progressive policy ideas, but very few of these people openly advocate for the socialization of agriculture or requiring all industries to be collectively owned. Because people generally don’t understand what socialism is, socialists, liberals, and progressives have been able to sway many people into identifying as “socialist” despite having very little in common with the historical ideas associated with this political philosophy. Most of the confusion over socialism is understandable, as I’ll explain elsewhere on this website, but it has also presented significant challenges and opportunities for those who have embraced this ideology. Although the word is often thrown around in various political debates, both positively and negatively, many people in Europe and the United States don’t understand the traditional Marxist view of socialism. A key difference is that communism requires a change in people's mindsets and morality to embrace egalitarianism, while socialism affects only economic systems and avoids the moral sphere.Perhaps the best argument socialists make about their political beliefs is that few people in the modern Western world understand what socialism is.
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This equality is seen as the end that has, throughout the 20th century, been used to justify authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Whereas socialism features state ownership of property, communism refers to community ownership of the means of production, with each man entitled to the value his labor provides, which ultimately leads to absolute social and economic equality. In the words of Leo Huberman and Paul Sweezy, founding editors of the socialist magazine "Monthly Review," " means taking away private property in the means of production from the few so that there will be much more private property in the means of consumption for the many." In essence, socialism advocates for a redistribution of wealth toward the workers and away from the capitalists, thus giving the lower classes more freedom and resources to do as they please. A socialist state does not control personal private property (i.e., the clothes you choose to wear or goods you consume for enjoyment), though it would confiscate private property, such as a factory, that is not meant for personal use but rather to manufacture products. The distribution of resources is not conducted necessarily according to one's need, but instead one's deeds - the quality and quantity of work performed. In a socialist economy, the state owns and controls the common property and the resources that drive the economy. The difference between capitalist and socialist economies is often not binary, but rather one of degree. It is important to note that the United States, like nearly all modern capitalist economies, contains some elements of socialism, including public schools, Social Security benefits and public works projects - collectivist services that are run by the state, not the free market. Eventually socialism, considered a first, necessary step, would develop into communism. Socialism, in this line of thinking, was the first step toward a new society after the inevitable collapse of capitalism. Vladimir Lenin, who led the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, saw communism as a "higher stage" of socialism.