Socialism: Ideas, History, Marxism

Key Ideas

• Many ideologies linked together by similar ideas drawn mainly from Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism
  • Marxism
  • Social Democracy
  • Socialism
  • Marxist-Leninism
  • Anarchism
  • Syndicalism
  • Stalinism
  • Maoism
  • Feminism
  • Reform liberalism
  • *Note: there is no communist ideology, economy, etc.!
• Oppose capitalism because it is neither free nor just
  • Capitalism is an unjust, exploitative economic system, thus generating conflict and social & political institutions to deal with the conflicts it creates
  • Creates liberal democracy in which:
    • “freedom” and “equal of opportunity” are a mirage for many (most) working people
    • “rights” do not equate to justice
  • Markets are not free – power concentrated in the hands of capitalists
  • Capitalism creates two classes in conflict: workers & capitalists
• Common Ownership:
  • Society owns and/or controls property collectively
  • Society should operate those things it owns publicly in the interest of the whole society
  • Society is more important than any individual
  • Individual rights or freedoms are secondary to the needs or decisions of the society as a whole
  • No individual has a natural right (God or otherwise) to property because all property is social
• Goal = equality (elimination of inequality)
• Historical change is the result of class struggle between capitalist & workers
  • Capitalists: own the means of production & make profits through selling goods & services
  • Workers: sell their labour to capitalists & work to produce goods & services
• Human nature is not self-interested, competitive, and greedy
  • People are the social and historical products of their societies
  • Can structure society to produce selfless & socially-minded people
• Many, many thinkers due to diversity of paths socialism has taken BUT we’re only touching on Marx & Lenin

Socialism: The Tradition

• Tradition of socialism for many centuries:
• Plato’s Republic (380 BC)
• Thomas More (1478-1535)
  • Catholic Saint and martyr
  • Advocated communal ownership as an antidote to the sins of pride, envy, greed he saw flourishing
  • Argued that policies that encouraged competition for profits fueled these sins
• Key turning point: Industrial Revolution:
• Some reformers (reform liberals): improve working conditions, raise wages through laws and welfare opportunities
• Others became radicals and revolutionaries (socialists): abolish the system that produced the inequalities and injustices
• Two types of socialists emerged:
  • 1. Moralist – Robert Owen (1771-1857) & Charles Fourier (1772-1837)
    • Capitalism created bad characters because it rewarded greed and selfishness
    • Need a new system of production: cooperative production for public profit – moral basis to production
  • 2. Scientific – Saint-Simon (1760-1825) & Marx
    • Argued human history “moves” and is divided into successive stages
    • Each society has a “base” of ideas and beliefs (ideology) which results in the prevailing economic, social & political system
    • As these beliefs & ideas lose credibility, so too does the social and economic system that rests upon them
    • In capitalism, life is so complex that people start to realize that humans are really interconnected & interdependent (not relentlessly self-interested or competitive) – capitalism therefore contains the seeds of its own destruction (contradiction)

Socialism: Marx

• German journalist (trained to be a prof)
• Impact on:
  • Major political revolutions of the 1900s
  • Major academics & intellectuals, especially social sciences & philosophy
  • Rivals Adam Smith as the most thorough/powerful theorist of capitalism as a system – from the opposition side
• Key books
  • German Ideology
  • Capital, volumes 1-3 (planned to write 4-6)
  • Communist Manifesto (plan of action)
  • Wrote with his friend, Friedrich Engels (wealthy factory owner)
• Key Ideas
  • Historical change:
    • From two sources:
    • Economic: change in the mode of production
    • Sociological: class struggle – workers vs. capitalists
    • Class struggle was the “motor of history”, that is, the cause of all changes
    • Historical change was ‘scientific certainty’: Hunters & Gatherers > Primitive Agriculture > Capitalism > Socialism > Communism (end)
    • Had to go through each stage of history before getting to end (no skipping of stages)
  • Base vs. Superstructure
    • Turned upside down Saint-Simon’s analysis
    • Organization of economy > creates the ideology to support it
    • Base = economic basis of society
    • Mode of production: organization of the economy and economic relationships which form the material base of society – how the society produces the goods it needs to survive (food, clothing, shelter, etc.)
    • Means of production: tools, technology, human labour, resources used to produce goods
    • Social relations of production: how people stand in relation to each other through production
    • Superstructure = political, social & legal institutions which help to perpetuate base & prevent workers from understanding (overthrowing) their oppression
    • What’s the point here?
      • Capitalism = private property –> means of production are individually/privately owned = privatized power over social relations of production = power over workers ( = unjust!)
      • Change the base = change the society –> change mode of production through class struggle = change the society
  • Why change capitalism? = alienation, exploitation, state oppression
    • Alienation: people work to gain money (wage-labourers) to access goods and services and so become ‘separated from’ and ‘hateful of’ their work
      • Work should be an expression of people’s goals, aspirations, desires, and potentials
    • Profit & wage-labouring = exploitation
      • Labour theory of value: congealed value of human labour in goods or services
      • Surplus value = profit: difference between what a labourer is paid and what the capitalist sells the goods for
      • Exploitation also includes preventing people from accessing basic goods (and services) they need to survive
    • State = serves the interests of the dominant class
      • Under capitalism = executive committee of the capitalists
      • Works to deal with problems caused by capitalism and oppress workers
  • How do we change capitalism? –> Revolution = workers’ revolt against the capitalists
    • Natural result of the contradictions of capitalism
      • E.g.: capitalism brings workers together who will realize their shared interests; capitalists will be driven by profit, competition, and greed and will eventually destroy each other and create monopolies
    • Overthrow the exploitative system
    • Dictatorship of Proletariat: government of the workers to re-structure the base & coordinate economic production
      • State employs all workers
      • Capitalists become workers also
      • Workers receive according to need
    • Communism: no more classes = no more government required
      • society operates on the basis of “each according to their need, each according to their ability”
  • What role do intellectuals play? –> Praxis: theory and practice/action are intertwined
    • Intellectuals must involve themselves in politics – not just philosophy
    • Marx involved in various international worker’s movements
    • Humanist: humans create and re-create their world, and gain legitimacy through their efforts (not God)

Socialism: Lenin

• Russian
• Key Book: Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
• Key Ideas:
  • Revolution was not inevitable as Marx predicted
  • Imperialist expansion throughout the world meant revolution was avoided & needed to be global – workers in Europe could be bought off by exploiting the colonials
  • Workers need a vanguard party to organize them and organize the revolution (Marxist-Leninist)
  • Do not need to go through each stage of history – can jump to communism

Social Democrats

• Splits from socialism – seeks reform not revolution following from Marx’s evolutionary strategy
• Similar to Reform Liberals, and seek equality of opportunity, BUT try to seek ways to create equality of result
• Argue for mixed economies:
  • Balance between state-owned and privately-owned companies
  • Balance between state-intervention & market outcomes – “correct” the market & inequalities
  • Basis: needs of society over the wants or freedoms of individuals
  • Pursuing party politics and winning elections
  • Creating laws and government agents to regulate and control the problems of capitalism
• Follow economic advice of Keynes
• Fought for welfare state
• Agree with taxation for income redistribution
• No longer advocating for overthrow of capitalism
• Accept some form of liberal constitutional democracy, but advocate broader voting rights & protection of group rights (race, challenged, women, natives, etc.)
• Most countries in the world are a mixture of reform liberalism & social democracy (even the US!), but Social Democrats are most common in Northern and Western Europe

Socialism

• Capitalism cannot be reformed and needs to be overthrown: revolution
• Capitalism:
  • Market system is “anarchic, inefficient, and inequitable”
  • Profit-motive is immoral because it puts money and greed over people’s needs
  • Makes people operate on the basis of competition and selfishness
• Replace markets with economic planning by state
  • Own and operate all means of production: factories, land, etc.
  • Distribute goods & services based on needs, not ability to pay
  • Determine volume of goods & services based on bureaucrats’ assessments
  • Wages & prices set by the state
• Social democracy is flawed:
  • Capitalism cannot be changed by party politics – need a worker’s party to organize the revolution
  • Liberal democracy is a mirage in which voting is used to legitimize oppression & obscure the power of capitalists
  • Equality of result needs to be pursued – people’s needs should be met and their should be no inequality
  • Equality is not natural and cannot just be corrected (again & again), but is result of the structure of the economy and society
  • Done through state planning
• Countries such as China, Cuba, and North Korea are called “existing socialism” states

Socialism and Our Criteria

• Today, “workers” are not the only socialists or social democrats
• Human Nature
  • Humans are social and communal creatures
  • Cooperation among individuals is the foundation of a good society
  • Capitalist system makes people selfish and competitive
  • There are no natural rights to individualism and property
• Nature of Society:
  • Humans seeks meaningful non-alienating labour in a community
  • Can be re-made into a more equitable system
    • Social Democrats: reform capitalism & have mixed economy
    • Socialism: overthrow capitalism & change economic basis
• Conception of Freedom:
  • The development of humanity’s creative & labouring capacities
  • Freedom from oppression by a capitalist elite: Negative freedom
  • Freedom to develop oneself: Positive freedom
• Understanding of Justice
  • “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”
  • Society is of greater importance than the individual
  • Social Democrats: equality of opportunity
  • Socialists: Equality of result
• State/government:
  • Social democrats: state can be independent of capitalists and can work for the benefit of workers, and workers can work through party politics in liberal democracies
  • Socialists: state not independent of capitalists & serves their interests, so workers must seize control of state and use it to dominate capitalists & create socialist system

William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

William completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 2013. He current serves as a lecturer, tutor and freelance writer. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, walking his dog and parasailing. Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2024 | Creative Commons 4.0

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