...and Its Ideology 1945- 1979 Core Principles of Socialism: Positive attitudes to human nature; critical analysis of capitalism; class inequality and poverty, equality, justice, liberty, community, cooperation, internationalism, collectivism public ownership . Variants of Socialism: Marxism, Anarchist Socialism, Democratic Socialism, Social Democracy, New Labour? Revolutionary Socialism and Evolutionary Socialism Fundamentalist Socialism and Revisionism Democratic Socialism and Social Democracy Old Labour and New Labour Similarities and differences between Socialism and other ideologies 1945-51 Labour in Power The Labour Manifesto for the 1945 General election stated that “The Labour Party is a Socialist party and proud of it." In practice, however, numerous theoretical problems are involved in the definition of socialism and although the Labour Party has always contained socialists both in the Parliamentary Labour party and the extra-parliamentary party, it has been convincingly argued, despite the above pronouncement of the 1945 manifesto that the Labour party is described more accurately as a social democratic party where social democracy implies support for a relatively strong, interventionist and reformist state dedicated to the improvement of the life chances of disadvantaged groups but operating in a mixed economy which is, however , dominated by the capitalist private sector. Labour's social democracy has actually undergone considerable changes in the...
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...What Is Democratic Socialism? Democratic Socialists believe that the economy and society should be run democratically - to meet the needs of the whole community, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be trasnsformed to through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the decisions that affect our lives. Democracy and socialism go hand in hand. All over the world, wherever the idea of democracy has taken root, the vision of socialism has taken root as well- everywhere but in the United States. Because of this, many false ideas about socialism have developed in the U.S. With this booklet, we hope to answer some of your questions about socialism. • Large corporations seem to be an almost permanent fixture in the US, so what is the point of working towards socialism? In the short term we can't eliminate large corporations, but we can bring them under democratic control. Government could use regulartions and tax incentives to encourage companies to act in the public interest and outlaw destructive activities such as exporting jobs to low-wage countries and polluting our environment. Public pressure and trade unions also have a critical role to play in the struggle to hold corporations accountable. Worker ownership of large corporations is another important possibility for democratizing our economy, and one that has recently seemed more and more attainable. ...
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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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...Edexcel A2 Political Ideologies 3 Socialism A Short-answer questions 1 Why did Marx believe that capitalism was doomed to collapse? • Capitalism is doomed to collapse because of its own internal contradictions. • Capitalism embodies its own antithesis, the proletariat, seen by Marx as the ‘gravedigger’ of capitalism. • Capitalism is defined by the creation of profit. This is only possible by the exploitation of the proletariat — that is, by the extraction of surplus value from the workers by the bourgeoisie. • Marx believed that the inherent contradictions of capitalism would cause the proletariat to achieve revolutionary class consciousness. This would occur as capitalism went through a series of deepening crises, leading to the immiseration of the proletariat. This would inevitably result in a proletarian revolution which was destined to overthrow capitalism. 2 Distinguish between fundamentalist and revisionist socialism. • Fundamentalist socialism rejects capitalism entirely and seeks to abolish it. It usually attributes the flaws of capitalism to private property for private profit, and seeks to establish socialism in the form of common ownership and very substantial equality of outcome. The Marxist or communist tradition is the clearest example of fundamentalist socialism. However, some fundamentalists pursue their goals by the parliamentary road — i.e. it is possible to be ‘fundamentalist democrats’ in the parliamentary sense. Eurocommunists...
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...In a way, communism is an extreme form of socialism. Many countries have dominant socialist political parties but very few are truly communist. In fact, most countries - including staunch capitalist bastions like the U.S. and U.K. - have government programs that borrow from socialist principles. "Socialism" is sometimes used interchangeably with "communism" but the two philosophies have some stark differences. Most notably, while communism is a political system, socialism is primarily an economic system that can exist in various forms under a wide range of political systems. Comparison chart | |Communism |Socialism | |Philosophy |From each according to his ability, to each according to |From each according to his ability, to each according to| | |his needs. Free-access to the articles of consumption is |his contribution. Emphasis on profit being distributed | | |made possible by advances in technology that allow for |among the society or workforce to complement individual | | |super-abundance. |wages/salaries. | |Economic System |The means of production are held in common, negating the |The means of production are owned by public enterprises | | |concept of ownership in...
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...Jordan Gabson Writing and Rhetoric Tuesday April 30, 2015 Democracy vs. Communism Communism has always been used as secret weapon to make the poor believe that being rich is inappropriate, and that the poor have less because the rich people took the money away from them. In reality, the communist government wants to take the money from the wealthy to make the governing body itself rich. Democracy, on the other hand, promotes capitalism, which allows economic freedom, which helps political freedom; efficiency, economic growth, and everybody having the opportunity to start the business that he or she desires. Communism and democracy are two different ideologies that have each had a great impact in the world. Communism can be defined as a socioeconomic structure that stands for the establishment of classless, egalitarian and stateless society. Democracy, on the other hand, is a political system of governance either carried out by the people directly or by elected representatives. “Democracy may not be the perfect form of government, but sure it is way better than communism” said Jones in his journal, Power and Democracy Education Every single human being in the world knows that this is not true. Everybody knows that communism is a secret weapon that the rulers in the countries where communism is practiced use it to enrich themselves, their families and their friends. Communism is...
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...Differences in Political Economy True / False Questions 1. A country's political economy and culture are independent of each other. True False 2. It is not possible to have democratic societies that emphasize a mix of collectivism and individualism. True False 3. The communists believed that socialism could be achieved by democratic means, and turned their backs on violent revolution and dictatorship. True False 4. In an individualist society, the welfare of society is best served by letting people pursue their own economic self-interest. True False 5. The central message of collectivism is that individual economic and political freedoms are the ground rules on which a society should be based. True False 6. There is a global trend of societies shifting from individualism toward collectivism. True False 7. It is possible to have a democratic state where collective values predominate. True False 8. It is possible to have a totalitarian state that is hostile to collectivism and where some degree of individualism is encouraged. True False 9. The most practical form of democracy is direct democracy. True False 10. Most modern democratic states practice representative democracy. True False 11. In a market economy, if demand for a product exceeds supply, prices will rise, signaling to producers to produce more. True False 12. The number of...
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...issues have divided competing traditions and tendencies within socialism. The first is the goals or ends for which socialists should strive for and the second is the means they should use to achieve socialists ends. The two variations of socialism which focuses on the means are revolutionary and evolutionary socialism while the two that focus on the goals are fundamentalist and revisionist socialism. Revolutionary socialists believed that socialism could only be introduced by a revolutionary overthrow of the existing political system which was, in most countries, capitalism. The first successful socialist revolution was the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, which served as a model for subsequent generations of revolutionary socialists. Revolutionary socialists seek a mass uprising of the working class to seize control of the economy and create an egalitarian society based on common ownership. However as the 19th century progressed, enthusiasm for popular revolt waned in advanced capitalist states such as western Europe. Capitalism had matured and the urban working class lost its revolutionary character. Wages had increased and the working class had more rights and better working conditions. Therefore, evolutionary socialism developed, which believed that socialism would develop naturally and peacefully out of liberal capitalism. The Fabian Society introduced parliamentary socialism in the UK and they believed that socialism could be introduced through political action and education...
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...Greece will never be able to pay off its debts, nor can several other members of the European Union. Socialism will not work in one country, or a multi-state region such as Europe. Socialism is not an alternative to a better economy. It is a program for consumption. Adding a democracy to the socialist economy will not make it better either. Since a strong socialist economy has been put into place, Greece has had an unemployment rate of 25%, a third of people live below the poverty line, 300,000 people are living without electricity, and infant mortality rates have made a drastic increase. According to surveys, 80 percent of Greeks believe that is it okay to claim government benefits which they are not entitled too. Wouldn't Americans do the same if you were getting paid not to work? The amount of Americans on welfare that are able to work, but have no desire too has increased drastically over the years as it becomes easier to apply...
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...Miranda Collins Dr. Jeff Kersh English 1010 March 10, 2016 Bernie vs Trump: A Contrast and Comparison of Capitalism and Socialism Getting the right ideas of how an economy should be run is a significant challenge. However, two systems can be used: socialism or capitalism. The United States continues to face this challenge. The current presidential campaign illustrates this important issue. Two candidates exemplify the two economic ideologies. Bernie Sanders adheres to the idea of democratic socialism, while Donald Trump follows capitalism. Capitalism is seen as a system that is mostly based on entrepreneurship, market allocation, and private ownership (Friedman 15). Socialism, on the other hand, is a structure where the control of factors of production is moved from individuals to the state. In light of these issues, below is a comparison and contrast between capitalism and socialism. While socialism helps to even out and equally distribute wealth in the society so that no particular person has control over production except the government, Capitalism does not allow for an evening out, and equal distribution of resources in the society. Also, the government has no control over production. According to Walter (7), Capitalism is “the economic system under which the ownership of goods and services are privately owned, and decisions concerning pricing, investments, and distribution are determined in a free-market system, primarily on the basis of competition among businesses”...
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...Similarities between Two The Most Famous Feminists Kyrylo Hrechko Academic Writing 1 Sharareh Sharifi Yazdi March 23third, 2016 Thesis Statement: Rosa Luxemburg and Klara Zetkin have similarities between in three aspects: inspiration, intentions, and effects. I. Inspiration A. Rosa Luxemburg 1. Political systems a. Socialism b. Democracy 2. Character’s inspiration a. Marx b. Engels 3. Inspiration for others a. Women b. Low-Class Workers B. Klara Zetkin 1. Political Systems a. Socialism b. Democracy 2. Character’s inspiration a. Marx b. Engels 3. Inspiration for others a. Women b. Low-Class workers II. Intentions A. Rosa Luxemburg 1. Ambitions a) Equal right for the women b) Equal social standards for the workers 2. Activities a) Anti-War agitation b) Strikes 3. Ideology a) Social-Democracy b) Marxism B. Klara Zetkin 1. Ambitions c) Equal right for the women d) Equal social standards for the workers 2. Activities c) Anti-war agitation d) Strikes 3. Ideology c) Socialism d) Marxism III. Effects A. Rosa Luxemburg 1. Reputation a. Feminists b. Socialists 2. Accomplishments a. Equal rights b. International Women’s Day 3. Legacy a. Feminism movements b. Communism movements B. Klara Zetkin 1. Reputation a. Feminists b. Communists 2. Accomplishments ...
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...Socialism is a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownershipand democratic control of the means of production,[7] as well as the political ideologies, theories, and movements that aim at their establishment.[8] Social ownership may refer to public ownership, cooperative ownership, citizen ownership of equity, or any combination of these.[9] Although there are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them,[10]social ownership is the common element shared by its various forms.[5][11][12] Socialist economic systems can be divided into both non-market and market forms.[13]Non-market socialism involves the substitution of factor markets and money with engineering and technical criteria based oncalculation performed in-kind, thereby producing an economic mechanism that functions according to different economic laws than those of capitalism. Non-market socialism aims to circumvent the inefficiencies and crises traditionally associated with capital accumulation and the profit system.[22] By contrast, market socialism retains the use of monetary prices, factor markets, and, in some cases, the profit motive with respect to the operation of socially-owned enterprises and the allocation of capital goods between them. Profits generated by these firms would be controlled directly by the workforce of each firm or accrue to society at large in the form of a social dividend.[23][24][25] The feasibility and exact methods of resource...
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...opposed to individualism. The second is the degree to which they are democratic or totalitarian. (collectivismtotalitarian; individualismdemocratic) 4. Collectivism: Collectivism refers to a political system that stresses the primacy of collective goals over individual goals. (socialism, communism, social democracy) 1. Socialist: Someone who believes in public ownership of the means of production for the common good of society. 2. Communist: The communists believed that socialism could be achieved only through violent revolution and totalitarian dictatorship. (eg: china, cuba, north korea) 3. Social democrats: committed themselves to achieving socialism by democratic means, turning their backs on violent revolution and dictatorship. 5. Individualism: individualism refers to a philosophy that an individual should have freedom in his or her economic and political pursuits.(freedom of expressions, economic self-interest) 6. Democracy vs Totalitarianism (communist, theocratic, tribal, right-wing) 1. Democracy: Political system in which government is by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives. 2. Totalitarianism: Form of government in which one person or political party exercises absolute control over all spheres of human life and opposing political parties are prohibited. A. Communist Totalitarianism: A version of collectivism advocating that socialism can be achieved only through a totalitarian dictatorship. B. Theocratic...
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...North Korea in Japanese is written as 朝鮮民主主義人民共和国. Japanese people generally use this name all the time we call North Korea, but this name is really controversial because of the meaning of the Chinese characteristics “民主主義 (min-shu-shu-gi)”. “民主主義” means democracy in Japanese. Is North Korea a democratic country like North Korea is described with democracy in Japanese? To begin with, what does North Korea go in for? It is suspicious that North Korea applies to just one thing from many options such as socialism, democracy, capitalism, communism, or liberalism. Everyday Life in The North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950 by Suzy Kim, North Korea Markets and Military Rule by Hazel Smith, and other articles demonstrate if it is true or not. By looking...
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...Use Only ------------------------------------------------- <Faculty comments here> ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- <Faculty Name> <Grade Earned> <Writing Score> <Date Graded> Introduction The problem to be investigated in this paper is the relationship between capitalism and the corporation and how socialism will affect this relationship. In the ever expanding economy, the government is trying to cash in more and more by taking over the capital owned by firms. The firms have to try to survive by doing whatever it takes to keep the government from overtaking their capital. In the big picture, firms what to make a profit but also provide a benefit to the society as a whole. We have to look deeper to explain what socialism and capitalism really are and what the corporations are really trying to do. Social Responsibility of Business Friedman said that the social responsibility of a business is to increase its profits (Friedman, 1970). He went on to explain that a corporation is not really a person but it has artificial responsibilities but as a whole a corporation cannot be said to have true responsibilities (Friedman, 1970). Friedman also told us that executives of a company have the responsibility...
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