Socialism what is it

Some individuals and families rose to riches quickly, while others sank into poverty, creating income inequality and other social concerns. It was primarily Lenin who expounded on the ideas of earlier socialists and helped bring socialist planning to the national level after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Following the failure of socialist central planning in the Soviet Union and Maoist China during the 20th century, many modern socialists adjusted to a high regulatory and redistributive system sometimes referred to as market socialism or democratic socialism.

Capitalist economies also known as free-market or market economies and socialist economies differ by their logical underpinnings, stated or implied objectives, and structures of ownership and production.

Socialists and free-market economists tend to agree on fundamental economics—the supply and demand framework, for instance—while disagreeing about its proper adaptation. Several philosophical questions also lie at the heart of the debate between socialism and capitalism: What is the role of government? What constitutes a human right? What roles should equality and justice play in society? Functionally, socialism and free-market capitalism can be divided on property rights and control of production.

In a capitalist economy, private individuals and enterprises own the means of production and the right to profit from them; private property rights are taken very seriously and apply to nearly everything. In a socialist economy, the government owns and controls the means of production; personal property is sometimes allowed, but only in the form of consumer goods.

In a socialist economy, public officials control producers, consumers, savers, borrowers, and investors by taking over and regulating trade, the flow of capital, and other resources. In a free-market economy, trade is conducted on a voluntary, or nonregulated, basis. Market economies rely on the separate actions of self-determining individuals to determine production, distribution, and consumption.

Decisions about what, when, and how to produce are made privately and coordinated through a spontaneously developed price system and prices are determined by the laws of supply and demand. Proponents say that freely floating market prices direct resources towards their most efficient ends. Profits are encouraged and drive future production. Socialist economies rely on either the government or worker cooperatives to drive production and distribution.

Consumption is regulated, but it is still partially left up to individuals. The state determines how main resources are used and taxes wealth for redistributive efforts. There are many points of contention between these two systems.

Socialists consider capitalism and the free market to be unfair and possibly unsustainable. For example, most socialists contend that market capitalism is incapable of providing enough subsistence to the lower classes. They contend that greedy owners suppress wages and seek to retain profits for themselves.

Proponents of market capitalism counter that it is impossible for socialist economies to allocate scarce resources efficiently without real market prices. They claim that the resultant shortages, surpluses, and political corruption will lead to more poverty, not less. Overall, they say, that socialism is impractical and inefficient, suffering in particular from two major challenges.

That is, socialist planners cannot incentivize laborers to accept dangerous or uncomfortable jobs without violating the equality of outcomes. Socialists, wrote Mises, are unable to perform any real economic calculation without a pricing mechanism.

Without accurate factor costs, no true accounting may take place. Without futures markets , capital can never reorganize efficiently over time. While socialism and capitalism seem diametrically opposed, most capitalist economies today have some socialist aspects.

Elements of a market economy and a socialist economy can be combined into a mixed economy. And in fact, most modern countries operate with a mixed economic system; government and private individuals both influence production and distribution. Economist and social theorist Hans Herman Hoppe wrote that there are only two archetypes in economic affairs—socialism and capitalism—and that every real system is a combination of these archetypes.

But because of the archetypes' differences, there is an inherent challenge in the philosophy of a mixed economy and it becomes a never-ending balancing act between predictable obedience to the state and the unpredictable consequences of individual behavior.

Mixed economies are still relatively young and theories around them have only recently codified. The Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith's pioneering economic treatise, argued that markets were spontaneous and that the state could not direct them, or the economy.

Capitalism is based on private ownership of resources and means of production, and individual choices in a free market. This is in contrast to socialism.

According to socialist philosophy , these features of capitalism lead to inequalities in wealth and hence power, and the exploitation of workers.

According to socialism, notions of individual freedom and equality of opportunity are available only to those who control the means of production. In a capitalist society, this means a few rich capitalists hold power at the expense of the working class. In a socialist system, however, it is argued that since everyone controls the means of production, everyone is free.

Communism Communism is a form of socialism based on the writings of German philosopher and economist Karl Marx. In a fully realized communist society, all property and goods are commonly owned by a society without government or class divisions. Some socialists argue that socialism does not necessarily require the government to run everything.

Instead, business institutions should be run by those workers and consumers that are affected by them. This could be implemented, for example, as worker-run cooperatives or publicly owned enterprises managed by workers and consumer representatives.

Some socialists see "means of production" as all major industries, such as finance or energy. For Jabari Brisport, a New York state senator elected in , " What [socialism] means is that energy, housing, health care, education, finance, and transportation Other socialists have pushed for a total ban on private enterprise.

Karl Marx, the Prussian intellectual who championed socialism in the 19th century, predicted that capitalism was doomed to fail, and a government-controlled economy would rise.

Vladimir Lenin, whose Bolshevik revolution gave rise to the Soviet Union's communist regime, preferred armed struggle to help push capitalism into history's trash bin. That said: Socialism and communist ideology are not the same. Today, the most prominent of America's socialists are very different from the Marxists of the past.

They largely push for progressive reforms within capitalism — a philosophy generally defined as social democracy. The Democratic Socialists of America aims to blend socialism-inspired reforms with America's current free-enterprise system. The DSA does not believe private enterprise should be immediately overthrown in favor of a government-run economy.

Instead, Ocasio-Cortez, for example, has pushed for a "revolution of working people at the ballot box" — new laws and stronger unions to make private businesses more accountable to what DSA members see as public interests.

Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, also advocates for democratic socialism. He has advocated for universal free health care, canceling all student debt, and expanding Social Security benefits within America's free-market economy. The Republican Party made socialism — or more specifically, warnings about socialism — a part of its campaign messaging. Some Americans may literally define the "working class" as those who are working, rather than as a position in the socioeconomic hierarchy.

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