...Socialism High Point University ECO 207 Tony Benjamin Socialism Socialist government is not state government. It would not rule over people and places, but would empower the people to rule over things. Socialism means a government in which the people collectively own and democratically operate the industries and social services through an economic democracy (SLP 2006). Under socialism, it is his/her fellow citizens and co-workers who create the policies and conditions for its community and working environment. It is they who establish local criteria through local independent boards, commissions and councils, acting in a democratic fashion. It is the people who have the authority, the ownership and control of the communities and their workplaces, and not the government nor a small group of executives or military brass (SLP 2006). Historically, in the early 1900’s, it was the Socialists who advocated a 40-hour work week, and a six-day work week; plus, child labor laws, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, social security, Medicare, collective bargaining, woman’s suffrage, and civil rights(Moore 2009). Socialists solely opposed World War I, which was ultimately fought for gold, money and corporate greed. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats embraced these concepts until much later in the century. The Socialist council directs regional, state and federal governments how to administer a national health system, a quality housing plan, full educational...
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...According to James Henslin, socialism is defined as an economic system with three main components that distinguish it from others systems such as capitalism. One component is the public ownership of the means of production, the second is central planning, and the third is the distribution of goods without a profit motive. (Henslin 386) In contrast to capitalism, with socialism, the public ownership of companies means that there is only one producer of goods and services, and prices are influenced by the cost of production not supply and demand or market competition. The government creates its own monopoly, but instead of controlling just one industry the government controls every industry. The central committee decides what the country will need, and how much they will charge for the products. There is no profit motive, only to produce the goods that will promote the general welfare. According to Henslin, these goods are then distributed according to people's needs rather than their ability to pay. (Henslin 386) In order for a government to do be able to produce goods in an effective manner they must own the land, factories, transportation and all other industries that support production. Such as the oil industry, the energy sector, minerals and forestry. The government also becomes the only employer, and all employees would be government employees. According to Henslin, this includes the central committee members, the factory workers, truck drivers, sales clerks, and even...
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...Socialism is a type of economic system, a political movement, and a social theory. Socialism is based on the idea that governments should own and control a nation's resources rather than individuals. Socialism was first used to describe opposition to the free enterprise and market economies. The Industrial Revolution was the cause of many social problems. Long work hours, low pay, and poor working conditions caused Americans to first consider socialism. With government involvement in business, fairer treatment for all was feasible. Most countries today have socialist parties, many have socialist governments, and others who are in between have adopted socialist ideas. Communism and socialism are often associated together. Socialism is a stage of government usually leading up to communism. Government must first control businesses if it is to be considered a communist nation. Democratic socialists believe some government control is necessary to force people to become good citizens, but too much can lead to not enough freedoms. Socialism is seen as an efficient form of government. Capitalism, on the other hand, leads to unemployment, poverty, business cycles, and conflict between owners. Through socialism a nations wealth can be distributed more equally. Socialism is therefore based on cooperation rather than competition. Socialist believe that by creating an economic plan, farmers, manufacturers, workers, and government officials can properly adjust the production...
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...Socialism is the antithesis of individualism, which gave birth, to the capitalistic system of society. Socialism came as a countering force against the injustice and incompetence of capitalism, which involved exploitation of peasants and workers by those who own the instruments of production. The advocates of Socialism regard the State as the instrument of achieving the greatest good of the largest community. It does not minimise the importance of the individual but seeks to subordinate the individual to the community. Gandhiji also looks upon the state as an instrument of oppression of the common people. It attaches importance to such liberty only as may be necessary' for the fullest development of the personality of the individual, consistent with the total need of the community. It thinks that the interest of the individual can be best safeguarded and promoted by maximising the control of the State. But according to the latter, i.e. the democrats, the above end may be secured by curtailing the functions of the State to the lowest possible minimum. Thus, the two schools of thought differed more in their political methods than in the legitimacy of ends. Socialism is both an economic and a political doctrine. It seeks to abolish private ownership of the means of production on the ground that such ownership and management lead to social inequalities and incompetence. Hence, the socialists want to promote the common economic, political and moral interests of the people by replacing...
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...Edberg Espinoza Writing Studies II Lindsey Wilson College 5/1/2015 Socialism in Cuba and Venezuela The Socialist ideology policy that titles those philosophies and political actions that protect an economic and political system founded on the organization of production systems and social control by an organized bottom-up workers' state, economic and political sectors to evade that a minority of citizens owning the means of to exercise the abuse of a majority that does not possess the means of production is enforced to sell their labor in exchange for a salary. This socialist ideology has been enforced in two countries for several years; Cuba and Venezuela, but this has not been solved yet, and it’s a topic that everybody should knew something. I will start with Cuba and then Venezuela, and then I will compare them so the reader can know the similarities between them. The first intentions to implement socialism in Cuba come with Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his attempts to overthrow the dictatorship of then-President Fulgencio Batista, the dictatorial president was unconditional ally of the United States . They had already had approaches with communist leaders especially from Mexico, there was brewing a plan for the dissemination of communist ideas and policies, especially at the head of Leon Trotsky. In the Cuban revolution that culminated in Batista fled and the establishment of Fidel Castro in power in 1959, who in four years as the island proclaimed socialist...
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...Socialism and Liberalism For hundreds of years people have been developing ideas on how governments should function and interact with their citizens. These ideas have run the gamut of possibilities from governments that control every aspect of life to governments with limited power where individual liberty is encouraged. Two ideologies that gained prominence in the 17th and 18th centuries were Liberalism and Socialism. Socialism is an ideology where citizens are best served by policies focused on meeting the basic needs of the entire society rather than by policies focused on serving the needs of individuals as individuals. (Grigsby, 2011) Liberalism arose from the writings of John Locke who believed in a limited government and protection of the rights of individuals, this is known as Classical Liberalism. This theory was expanded on in the 19th century and became known as Modern Liberalism. Modern liberals believe in an interventionist government and expansive liberty. (Grigsby, 2011) In recent years in the United States, some have tried to make these two ideologies synonymous. While they may share some characteristics these two ideologies are not the same. Socialism is not Liberalism and Liberalism is not Socialism. Interventionist government and expansive liberty are the two main points of Modern Liberalism. An interventionist government is government that takes a role in regulating economic and social interactions. (Grigsby, 2011) Expansive liberty is defined...
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...Distinguish between fundamentalist socialism and revisionist socialism. (Jan 03) Fundamentalist socialism views capitalism as fundamentally flawed and so is distinguished by its desire to abolish and replace capitalism. It usually practices the politics of ownership, in that it links the defects of capitalism to private property and defines socialism essentially in terms of the common ownership. The Marxist or communist tradition is the clearest example of fundamentalist socialism. Revisionist socialism practices an accommodations strategy, in that it seeks to reform or tame capitalism rather than abolish it. It thus seeks to reconcile socialism with capitalism. It is usually associated with the politics of social justice, the quest for equality or, in practice, the narrowing of social inequalities through welfare and redistribution. Social democracy is the main example of revisionist socialism. In some cases, the fundamentalist/revisionist distinction was understood entirely in terms of conflict between revolutionary socialists and evolutionary socialists. Although the two sets of distinctions are not entirely unrelated, and students who pointed this out would have gained credit, the fundamentalist/revolutionary distinction is primarily about 'ends' and the revolutionary/evolutionary distinction is primarily about 'means'. Sound responses pointed out that fundamentalist socialists aim to abolish and replace capitalism, whereas revisionist socialists aim to reform or 'humanise'...
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...Bigger and better, the machine became the iconic image of a period characterized by innovation. The machine became a metaphor and symbol for Carl Marx’s political ideology advocating for the destruction of capitalism and the redistribution of wealth. Infuriated with the injustices of the industrial revolution, the work force believed in a political theory that refined the machine and advocated for the communal ownership of production and distribution. In effect, socialism provided a simple and temporary solution for the suffering of the working class in 1840. However, socialism’s temporary solution resulted in a platform for corruption leading to reactions like fascism that attempted to reinvent the machine. Europe once again was forced to...
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...Revisionist Socialism What is it? Revisionist socialism seeks to reform or tame capitalism rather than abolish it. It seeks to reconcile socialism with capitalism. It seeks social justice in the sense of narrowing the economic and social inequalities (to varying degrees) within capitalism through welfare and redistribution. Social democracy is the most obvious example of revisionist socialism. Revisionists are invariably parliamentary, not revolutionary, socialists. Bernstien Beginning in the late 1890s a diverse group of so-called revisionist thinkers increasingly questioned the validity of a number of fundamental Marxist theorists. They particularly objected to how rigidly Marx's doctrine was being interpreted by his colleagues in Second International. The foremost theoretical spokesman of the revisionist movement was Eduard Bernstein. Bernstein was a German social democrat whose views on socialism had been influenced by his extended influenced by those in Switzerland and particularly in England, where he became familiar with the views of the early Fabian Society. While his own theory of socialism differed from theirs, Bernstein nevertheless shared many of the Fabian beliefs, including the notion that socialism could be achieved by non-revolutionary means. In a series of articles that first appeared in Die Neue Zeit between 1896 and 1899 and later published in the book Evolutionary Socialism (1899), Bernstein laid the foundation for a revisionist challenge to Marxist...
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...Erica Anguiano Socialism vs. Capitalism December 21st, 2014 Socialism vs. Capitalism Socialist is not state presidency. It does not law over individuals and places, but it could inspire us citizens to decree over things. Socialism signifies a government in which the society together own and constitutionally function the businesses and social services through a financial fairness and the things required to create and issue households, automobiles and all the necessities we need and want. In socialism the workers who control the businesses and services work together. Owning shops and other workplaces. Rankings would designate our direct managers and organization groups and also elect reps to local and national meetings of the business or service. Work with all- manufacturing congress to organize and distribute of all goods and amenities through the nation. Socialism would replace the biased government that is ran by representatives of an industrialized government operated by workers. Instead in its place of a representative from California or New York, there would be employee representatives from the motorized industry, from the transport systems, from the mines, from the clothes factories, from services such as diners, hospices, schools and so on. These representatives would have the single duty of determining what should be manufactured and how best to manufacture it. Today we have political equality only. Labors don’t have economic democracy. The owners...
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...Socialism means a society restructured according to the working-class principle of solidarity. It means an economy of democratic planning, based on common ownership of the means of production, a high level of technology, education, culture and leisure, economic equality, no material privileges for officials, and accountability. Beyond the work necessary to ensure secure material comfort for all, it means the maximum of individual liberty and autonomy. Working-class socialism - counterposed by Marx and Engels to all forms of "reactionary" or "bourgeois" socialism - builds on the best of what capitalism has achieved, in technology, economic coordination, communications, education, democracy and individual liberty. Revolutionary socialism can be far freer and more democratic than capitalism could conceivably be - through integrating economic and political power in democratic structures, through accountability and provisions for political participation, and through extensive political and individual liberties. At the same time a socialist regime would have the power and the will to allocate sufficient resources for all human needs, so that no individuals or groups would be cast off and cast out as dregs, as they are under capitalism. Socialism is only possible as the result of direct action by the working class. When the current ruling class, the capitalists, took power from the feudal kings and lords, they did so gradually, using wealth they already owned under feudalism, and...
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...Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Capitalism and Socialism 1 Varieties of capitalism arise from a number of institutional characteristics that prevail in the developed economies of the globe. Such institutional characteristics include; education and vocational training, industrial relations, inter-firm relations, corporate governance and intra-firm coordination (Soskice & Hall 23). These characteristics differentiate two forms of capitalism, coordinated market economies- CME’s and liberal market economies- LME’s. Aside from differing in their institutional characteristics, these two forms of capitalism differ in certain macroeconomic aspects especially industrial specialization and comparative advantage. The table below pinpoints the differences between the forms of capitalism based on the institutional characteristics; Institutional characteristic | Liberalized markets (LME’S) | Coordinated markets (CME’s) | Education and training | Formal learning from high schools and colleges | Apprenticeship, bestowing industry specific skills | Inter-firm relations | Competitive | Coordinated/collaborative | Industrial regulations | Deregulated, anti-tax, tax breaks | Motivates information sharing and coordination among firms | Comparative advantage/specialization | High-tech and service | Manufacturing | Income distribution | Largely unequal | Generally evenly distributed | Mechanism | Competitive market arrangements | Non-market relations | An example of...
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...Capitalism vs. Socialism. “The US is a capitalist there corporations can sue and be sued. They can buy and sell property. They can perform many of the same actions as individuals. A capitalist system is a free market economy or free enterprise.” Belgium is socialism everyone works for wealth that is, in turn, circulated to everyone. Capitalism you work for your own wealth. A socialist economic system operates on the foundation that what is good for one is good for all. Everyone works for their own good and the good of everyone else. The government decides how wealth is spread among the people.” “In a socialist economy, there is no market as such. The government provides for the people. The taxes are usually higher than in a capitalist system. There may be government-run health care and a complete system of government-operated education.” “Capitalism increases the opportunities in the marketplace for personal economic growth. It increases opportunities for entrepreneurs to increase their personal wealth and for societies to grow as well. Hard work is rewarded under a capitalist economy “Socialism seeks to promote equality among people by providing them with many of the same social benefits. Examples of benefits that individuals in a socialist society are provided are educational, health care, and care for the elderly. Socialism means paying for things without necessarily expecting a financial return.” “Consumers and companies control the free market in the US.“ I would rather...
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...I choose this source from the Library of Congress because it represents in the era of the story for Harrison Bergeron, this type of subject in the reading describes more about socialism. Socialism developed as a political movement towards ideology in the eighteenth and nineteenth century,its reaction towards society was lead to industrial injustice and labor exploitation. Karl Marx established and defines the great definition of modern theory of socialism, Marx advocated a revolution towards equality for the working class which lead into control the poor citizen as in dictatorship.Socialism is the meaning of the word that has been also used for political power, both nationalist socialism in Germany under Hitler and the Soviet style developed by Lenin....
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...extent has New Labour abandoned its socialist ideologies? Socialism is an ideology that rejects the work of the individual and instead prioritizes the work of the collective and believes the products of the work by the collective should then be distributed equally. Socialism corresponds with equality of outcome which means that it stifles the opportunity for progress or wealth and Winston Churchill considered it “the equal sharing of misery”. In order to combat this negative image, Tony Blair implanted the third way; an amalgamation of the better elements of socialism and capitalism. However, in order to achieve this amalgamation, Blair had to reject several socialist beliefs. Prior to Blair’s leadership of the Labour party in 1994, the Labour party was exclusively a party for the working class and had been since its start in the 1900s. Founded out of trade unions and the socialist parties of the time, it was essentially a parliamentary pressure group at first, campaigning for the rights of what they believed were the majority. Because it was a party born out of industrialization, it is understandable that it would focus on conditions for the workers it represented which, particularly in the 1900s, were very poor. The Labour Party in England followed the doctrine of evolutionary socialism, perhaps because it identified there was efficiency in a capitalist market as well as the moral vision of socialism. Evolutionary socialism believed in gradualism and corresponded with the Fabian...
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