Comparison of Communism and Socialism
Introduction:
Communism and Socialism which are regarded as the two different shades of Marxism are often used inter-changeably. Both the systems are opposed to the capitalistic system and share some similarities as well as differences in their approaches. The theory of Communism developed by German philosopher Karl Marx, is both a political and an economic system that is based on the collective ownership of the production of goods. The word Communism has been originated from a Latin word meaning “common”. Communism rejects individual ownership of industry, and promotes the manufacture of goods in order to satisfy the basic needs of the economy and the people. In communist societies, production for individual
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A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of most property in common which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
Key Proponents Karl Marx, Fredrik 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.
Concept of State According to Marxian point of view, communism regards state as a negative institution that has been instrumental in the exploitation of the oppressed classes at the hands of the wealthy classes. Thus, communism wants to abolish state structure after attaining the goal of classless society. On the other hand, the exponents of socialism regard state as a positive institution which can effectively implement the economic principles of socialism. They believe that the rights of the wage-earners are better safeguarded when all economic activities are carried out within the rules and regulations enacted by the
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The communists believe that the first step while establishing the communist state should be that the working class with workers’ dictatorship must replace the capitalist dictatorship. The socialist political system can coexist with different political systems. Socialists believe that it is possible to make the transition from capitalism to socialism without a basic change in the character of the state. They believe that there is no need for the working class in power to smash the old capitalist state apparatus and set up its own. The march to socialism can be made step by step within the framework of the democratic forms of the capitalist
1. Communism: Communism is defined as the political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production and the natural resources of a society. This form of government is important because it is backed by the idea of pure equality and is known for being the highest, most advanced form of socialism. Communism fueled the leaders of the Russian Revolution, such as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Leon Trotsky. When Lenin was called into power after Nicholas II’s abdication, he immediately introduced Communism as Russia’s new form of government.
While communism is meant to help achieve equality for everyone it has been proven we can’t achieve a perfect communist state. Communism first originated from the Greek idea during the Golden Age that harmony and bliss would be achieved without owning private property (Beer, "Origins of Communism"). Lopez 2 It later than resurfaced around 1848 when Karl Marx published his book The Communist Manifesto. During Karl Marx’s time he wanted the proletariat, the working class, to overthrow the government due to bourgeoisie, the high class, having more opportunities and unfair advantages.
Marxism:worldview and method of societal analysis that focuses on class relations and societal conflict, that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, and a dialectical view of social transformation Communism:socioeconomic system structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and characterized by the absence of social classes, money, and the state Fascism: form of radical authoritarian nationalism that came to prominence in early 20th-century
Communism is an ideology that takes the basic ideas of socialism, community control over the means of production, and goes even further, removing the concept of private property entirely, with everything being the shared property of the community. In Marx's theoretical perfect communism, common ownership would eventually lead to a society without social classes or wealth, with all economic production and distribution regulated by an economic plan supposedly embodying the interests of the community. Despite this, communist governments have historically been totalitarian regimes, in which the state controls all aspects of society. Communism is one of the political ideologies that I agree with the least, as I find it to be completely unfeasible. Modern liberalism is the ideology that I generally refer to as my own personal ideology.
As you travel around the world, you will see that every nation is different. Their economies, views on certain topics, ways of life, freedoms, cultures, rights and responsibilities are all examples of some differing aspects of each separate place. The historical events of every nation creates its own story and is one of the main influencers for the current status of these nations. For instance, The Unites States of America and The USSR, or Soviet Union (Russia), are both powerful in many factors, but the citizenship and foundations of each country are completely contrastive. On the other hand, they do share a number of similarities.
The followers of Karl Marx believe in the theory which suggest that communism is the final period of evolution of human socioeconomic relations. Thus, Marx criticized free market economy as being ungoverned and strongly influenced by laws of supply and demand, which considered to not allow people to take control of individual and collective destines (Veblen). As a solution, Marxism ideology offers state capitalism- where the government controls the economy like a huge corporation, extracting the surplus value from the workforce in order to invest in production (Dunayevskaya).State monopoly capitalism was exactly the case in Soviet Union, influenced by Marxism, even though Marxist revolutionary politician argues that the possibility in of exploitative society cannot be considered; since the ownership of the means of production developed historically, through social
Communism and Socialism are often very misunderstood as to what they stand and what they mean often referred to as completely different political platforms but they are shockingly similar, in fact, they share the same origin, and similar philosophy and political policies. Socialism is a form of government in which means of production are controlled by the workers. what are means of production? Marxism defines means of production as implements, tools, and machines used in production such as farmland, tractors, factories, banks, etcetera. Socialism means is that workers control their workplace and cannot be privately owned.
“Every Communist must grasp the truth, ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’” (Mao Tse-Tung). Communism, by definition, is a political theory advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. Karl Marx’s theory, originally intended to beneficially alter society, shaped modern day China, but some argue that it creates conflict when applied to a mass amount of people. Many believe that communism can decrease personal motivation to defy conformity and establish utter personal freedom to rise and fall among social rankings.
Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist in the 18th century. He is known for his book the Communist Manifesto that was published in 1848. Marx believed that a revolution of the working classes would over throw the capitalist order and creates a classless society. The Industrial Revolutions led to the proletarianization; his partner Friedrich Engels explained why the changes created by the proletarianization of the worker would develop into a huge problem for industrial societies. I do believe that Karl Marx’s vision of communism in the Communist Manifesto could re-emerge as a popular and workable philosophy of social, economic, and political organization.
Communism supported the distribution of wealth equally among all peoples of all social classes. In fact, communists sought for the government to have complete control of the economy. Communism also advocated for “the elimination of all classes except the working class and a complete state monopoly over all forms of industrial and agricultural production.” (White,
A ‘Socialist State’ or ‘State socialism’ can be defined as a “political system in which the state has control of industries and services.” This means the state can control the means of production in all industries and services to ensure it meets the basic needs of each citizen, as well as ensuring the end result is distributed proportionately. The Bolsheviks had a crucial impact on Russia becoming a socialist state in 1917. The Bolsheviks, who were also known as the ‘Social-Democratic Workers’ Party’ was led by Lenin, and became the leading political power in Russia in October 1917, after seizing control of the government. Whilst the Bolsheviks were successful at forming Russia into a socialist state, there were many obstacles that were faced.
Karl Marx, Socialism, Communism Name Institutional affiliation Karl Marx viewed capitalism as a historical stage that would eventually stagnate due to internal contradictions. He saw capitalism as a way for capitalists to accumulate more capital while impoverishing the working class. The private ownership of the means of production is considered as a dependency of those who do not own the mean of production on the ruling class. Marx criticized capitalism those who own the means of production exploit the work class and this would eventually lead to a source of restriction to human freedom. According to Marx, communism is an ideology that establishes a communist society, which is structured along the common ownership of the means
Marx and Engels wrote, "The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property." Unlike those Marx described as utopian socialists, Marx determined that, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles". Generally saying by keeping what we have our economy shall fail, but if we revolt now we can change that. Some countries that are socialist today for example is Canada.
In Capitalism, every individual works for his own capital accumulation, but in Socialism, the wealth is shared by all the people equally. In Capitalism every person has the right to freedom of religion which also exists in Socialism, but Socialism gives more emphasis on secularism. In Capitalism, the efficiency is higher as compared to Socialism because of the profit incentive that encourages the firm to produce such products that are highly demanded by the customers while in a socialist economy there is a lack of motivation to earn money, which leads to inefficiency. In Capitalism, there is no or marginal government interference which is just opposite in the case of Socialism. As we all know that every coin has two aspects, one is good and the other is bad and same is the case with the two economic systems.
Although these two definitions do not necessarily follow Marxist ideas, they provide a background for the understanding of the modern State. In the Communist Manifesto,