Socialism
defined as a centrally planned economy in which the government controls all
means of production—was the tragic failure of the twentieth century. Born of a
commitment to remedy the economic and moral defects of CAPITALISM, it has far
surpassed capitalism in both economic malfunction and moral cruelty. Yet the
idea and the ideal of socialism linger on. Whether socialism in some form will
eventually return as a major organizing force in human affairs is unknown, but
no one can accurately appraise its prospects
who has not taken into account the dramatic story of its rise and fall.
The
term socialism is derived from the word from the word socious which means
society. Socialism prior concern is society and the injustice of the capitalist
system that has inspired its origin. It is aeration against social and economic
anarchy which the capitalist system has had produced. It is revolt against the
exploitation of man by man and of child in field, factory, mine and workshop.
It is challenge to society divided into two halves or classes-haves or have not
and dragged mankind into perpetual conflicts and wars. Socialism has spread
worldwide and emerged many school of socialism and each school has its own name
and advocated its own point of view such as Fabianism in Britain, Syndicalism
in France, Guild socialism in Britain. Socialism emerged as a political
movement of class which aims to abolish exploitation of capitalism by using
tools of the collective ownership and democratic management relied on
instrument of production and distribution. It pays attention at securing an
economic objective of any country. Socialism is the organization of workers
which promotes the conquest of worker class, provide them political power so as
to transform capitalist property into social prosperity. Socialism consider
society as a whole and promotes the general well-being for all.
History of Socialism
Thomas
More coined the term "utopia" in 1515 in his treatise titled
"Utopia," but utopian imaginings began long before his.
Platodescribed a similar environment when he wrote the philosophical work
"Republic" in 360 B.C. In 1627, Francis Bacon's "New
Atlantis" advocated a more scientific approach, rooted in the scientific
method. Bacon envisioned a research-institute-like society where inhabitants
studied science in an effort to create a harmonious environment through their
accumulation of knowledge. In addition to these landmark works, more than 40
utopian-themed novels were published from 1700 to 1850, cementing its status as
a very popular ideal [source: Foner]. Because many social injustices -- such as
slaveryand oppression -- were running rampant, the theme was quite popular
among embittered and dispirited populations.
While
a French revolutionary named François Noël Babeuf is credited with the idea of
doing away with private property to create equality and is often considered the
first socialist, the concept wasn't popularized until the late 1700s, when the
Industrial Revolutioncaused some drastic changes around the world.
The
revolution marked a shift from agricultural societies to modern industries, in
which tools were eschewed in favor of cutting-edge machinery. Factories and
railways sprung up, resulting in tremendous wealth for the owners of these
industries. While they profited from these changes, workers were thrown into
sudden poverty due to a lack of jobs as machines began to replace human labor.
Many people feared that this discrepancy in income would continue to spread,
making the rich richer and the poor poorer.
This
fear created unrest among the working class. Poor housing, coupled with bad
working conditions and slave labor (which was still rampant in the United
States and other countries), contributed to the desire for a more equal
society. As a result, socialist ideals quickly became popular among the
impoverished workers. Communes such as Brook Farm and New Harmony began popping
up in the United States and Europe. These small communities abided by socialist
principles and worked to avoid the class struggles that controlled the rest of
the world. New Harmony was considered a center of scientific thought and
boasted the United States' first free library, public school and kindergarten.
Despite
the presence of small communes and the spread of socialist thought, socialism
remained largely an idea, rather than reality. Soviet dictator Vladimir Ilyich
Lenin was the first leader to put socialism to the test. Though he was a
communist (a branch of socialism that used militant action to overthrow the
upper class and government to achieve a utopian society), Lenin implemented
many socialist initiatives in the Soviet Union after his takeover in 1917.
These included forced nationalization of industry and collectivization of
agriculture. Lenin's programs were not profitable, and he eventually resorted
to a mixed economy. Communism is sometimes referred to as revolutionary
socialism for its aggressive tactics. Although there are fundamental
differences between the two theories, communism and socialism both aim to
eliminate class struggles by encouraging government or state control of
production and distribution.
The
post-World War I era saw a rise in democratic socialism in Europe. Socialist
parties became active in the governments of Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands,
Belgium and Great Britain. Socialism also became popular in portions of Africa,
Latin America and Asia
.
Forms of Socialism- There are different
forms of socialism which are given below.
Utopian Socialism
Dreamers
who have sought to improve our imperfect world are scattered across the pages
of history. Sir Thomas More (1478--1535), a Catholic saint and martyr who
served as an advisor to England's Henry VIII, was one such dreamer. More's
famous book Utopia borrowed a Greek word meaning "no place." Today,
utopian commonly refers to unrealistic ideals. More blamed poverty, waste, and
avarice on private property, and proposed the creation of "Utopia,"
where everyone would share everything.
Utopian
socialism is the idea that collective ownership eliminates greed and promotes
personal growth, cultural enrichment, and democracy.
People
would work for the common good in jobs of their choice. Prices would be
superfluous, because there would be as much joy from giving as from receiving;
supplying and demanding would be equally satisfying.
More's
ideas were largely ignored until early in the nineteenth century, when social
ferment and the prospect of revolution swept Europe. Utopian socialism bloomed.
Prominent utopians of this period included the French philosopher Charles
Fourier (1772--1837) and the philanthropist Robert Owen (1771--1858). Owen,
though born into poverty, became wealthy as a Scottish cotton-mill owner while
still in his twenties. Infatuated with the utopian vision, he financed several
self-contained, communally owned villages in Scotland and the United States.
Neat rows of houses, free education, better working conditions, and wages in
proportion to hours worked attracted thousands of people to this grand
experiment. But all utopian communities of this period were (predictably?) poorly
managed and uniformly failed.
It
seems ironic that some of Owen's dreams were integrated into public policies in
many modern mixed economies. Free public education, socialized medicine in much
of Europe and medical insurance in the United States, healthier working
conditions, and substantial parts of our current welfare system can all be
traced to utopian goals.
Marxian socialism
In
Marxist theory, socialism, lower-stage communism or the socialist mode of
production refers to a specific historical phase of economic development and
its corresponding set of social relations that eventually supersede capitalism
in the schema of historical materialism. In this definition, socialism is
defined as a mode of production where the criterion for production is use-value,
where production for use is coordinated through conscious economic planning and
the law of value no longer directs economic activity. Socialism would be based
on the principle of To each according to his contribution. The social relations
of socialism are characterized by the working-class effectively controlling and
owning the means of production and the means of their livelihood either through
cooperative enterprises or public ownership and self management, so that the
social surplus would accrue to the working class or society as a whole.
This
view is consistent with, and helped to inform, early conceptions of socialism
where the law of value no longer directs economic activity, and thus monetary
relations in the form of exchange-value, profit, interest and wage labor would
not operate and apply to socialism.
The
Marxian conception of socialism stood in contrast to other early conceptions of
socialism, most notably early forms of market socialism based on classical
economics including Mutualism and Ricardian socialism, which unlike the Marxian
conception, retained commodity exchange and markets for labor and the means of
production. The Marxian conception was also heavily opposed to Utopian
socialism.
Although
Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels wrote very little on socialism and neglected to
provide any details on how it might be organized, numerous Marxists and
neoclassical economists used Marx's theory as a basis for developing their own
models and proposals for socialist economic systems and served as a point of
reference for the socialist calculation debate.
Christian socialism
Many
prominent socialists were militant atheists, for example, but others expressly
connected socialism to religion. Even the rationalist Saint-Simon had called
for a “new Christianity” that would join Christian social teachings with modern
science and industry to create a society that would satisfy basic human needs.
His followers attempted to put this idea into practice, giving rise to a
Saint-Simonian sect sometimes called “the religion of the engineers.” This
combination of an appeal to universal brotherhood and a faith in enlightened
management also animated the best-selling utopian novel Looking Backward
(1888), by the American journalist Edward Bellamy. In England the Anglican
clergymen Frederick Denison Maurice and Charles Kingsley initiated a Christian
socialist movement at the end of the 1840s on the grounds that the competitive
individualism of laissez-faire capitalism was incompatible with the spirit of
Christianity. The connection between Christianity and socialism persisted
through the 20th century. One manifestation of this connection was liberation
theology—sometimes characterized as an attempt to marry Marx and Jesus—which
emerged among Roman Catholic theologians in Latin America in the 1960s.
Another, perhaps more modest, manifestation is the Christian Socialist Movement
in Britain, which affiliates itself with the British Labour Party. Several
members of Parliament have belonged to the Christian Socialist Movement, including
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the son of a Methodist minister, and his
predecessor, Tony Blair, an Anglican who converted to Catholicism not long
after he left office.
Fabian Socialism
Founded
in England in 1884, the Fabian Society jettisoned the utopian ideal of small
communities, urging instead nationalization of heavy industry and municipal
ownership of public utilities. Otherwise, their agenda echoed many reforms
proposed by utopians: universal suffrage, income redistribution, free education
and medical care, and laws to ensure safe work environments, forbid child
labor, and limit women's working hours.
The
early Fabians included such prominent intellectuals as playwright George
Bernard Shaw, science fiction writer H. G. Wells, historian G. D. H. Cole, and
Sidney and Beatrice Webb, a married team of economists. This small band grew
and, as it collected members who were active in the British union movement,
evolved into the present Labour party, which dominated the British government
from World War I until 1980. Many advocates of capitalism blamed the Labour
party's policies of nationalization for technological obsolescence and the
sluggish growth of the British economy. They credit massive privatization since
1980 for the modern resurgence of British industry.
Guild socialism
Related
to syndicalism but nearer to Fabianism in its reformist tactics, Guild Socialism
was an English movement that attracted a modest following in the first two
decades of the 20th century. Inspired by the medieval guild, an association of
craftsmen who determined their own working conditions and activities, theorists
such as Samuel G. Hobson and G.D.H. Cole advocated the public ownership of
industries and their organization into guilds, each of which would be under the
democratic control of its trade union. The role of the state was less clear:
some guild socialists envisioned it as a coordinator of the guilds’ activities,
while others held that its functions should be limited to protection or
policing. In general, however, the guild socialists were less inclined to
invest power in the state than were their Fabian compatriots.
Anarcho-communism
Anarcho-
communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state,
capitalism, wages and private property and in favor of common ownership of the
means of production, direct democracy, and a horizontal network of voluntary associations
and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding
principle: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his
need".
Some
forms of anarchist communism such as insurrectionary anarchism are strongly
influenced by egoism and radical individualism, believing anarcho-communism is
the best social system for the realization of individual freedom. Some
anarcho-communists view anarcho-communism as a way of reconciling the
opposition between the individual and society.
Anarcho-communism
developed out of radical socialist currents after the French Revolution but was
first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International. The
theoretical work of Peter Kropotkin took importance later as it expanded and
developed pro-organization list and insurrectionary anti-organization list
sections.
To
date, the best-known examples of an anarchist communist society (i.e.,
established around the ideas as they exist today and achieving worldwide
attention and knowledge in the historical canon), are the anarchist territories
during the Spanish Revolution and the Free Territory during the Russian
Revolution. Through the efforts and influence of the Spanish Anarchists during
the Spanish Revolution within the Spanish Civil War, starting in 1936 anarchist
communism existed in most of Aragon, parts of the Levante and Andalusia, as
well as in the stronghold of Anarchist Catalonia before being crushed by the
combined forces of the regime that won the war, Hitler, Mussolini, Spanish
Communist Party repression (backed by the USSR) as well as economic and
armaments blockades from the capitalist countries and the Second Spanish
Republic itself. During the Russian Revolution, anarchists such as Nestor
Makhno worked to create and defend—through the Revolutionary Insurrectionary
Army of Ukraine—anarchist communism in the Free Territory of the Ukraine from
1919 before being conquered by the Bolsheviks in 1921.
Syndicalism
Near
the anarcho-communists on the decentralist side of socialism were the
syndicalists. Inspired in part by Proudhon’s ideas, syndicalism developed at
the end of the 19th century out of the French trade-union movement—syndicat
being the French word for trade union. It was a significant force in Italy and
Spain in the early 20th century until it was crushed by the fascist regimes in
those countries. In the United States, syndicalism appeared in the guise of the
Industrial Workers of the World, or “Wobblies,” founded in 1905.
The
hallmarks of syndicalism were workers’ control and “direct action.”
Syndicalists such as Fernand Pelloutier distrusted both the state, which they
regarded as an agent of capitalism, and political parties, which they thought
were incapable of achieving radical change. Their aim was to replace capitalism
and the state with a loose federation of local workers’ groups, which they
meant to bring about through direct action—especially a general strike of
workers that would bring down the government as it brought the economy to a
halt. Georges Sorel elaborated on this idea in his Réflexions sur la violence
(1908; Reflections on Violence), in which he treated the general strike not as
the inevitable result of social developments but as a “myth” that could lead to
the overthrow of capitalism if only enough people could be inspired to act on
it.
Socialism effect on society
Positive effect of socialism -
A Fair System
Socialism
gives equal distribution of national wealth and provides everyone with equal
opportunities, irrespective of their, color, caste, creed or economic status.
Socialism, in its truest sense, means equality by all means.
Eliminates Social Evils
Socialism
reduces poverty with eatable wealth distribution. It also eliminates ill
health, as it lays the foundation for the availability of proper health
facilities for everyone. Socialism eliminates other forms of social deprivation
too, by caring for everyone.
Reducing Disparities
Socialism
reduces the social, economic, and political inequalities that exist within
capitalist societies. By taking the ownerships of production units from the
rich and presenting them to the workers, the government gives the workers a
chance to earn more profits and thus rise to levels of economic well being.
More Humane & True
The
effort to make everybody equal in economic, social, and political terms makes
socialism more morally worthwhile than capitalism. It reinforces the fact
that everyone was created equally and it was only through human actions that
disparities arose.
Improved Standard Of Living
The
idea behind socialism is to bring up the living standards of the poorest. It
actually works towards raising the living standards to similar levels, as the
better-off members of the respective societies.
Unity
As
people work for a common cause and all the profits are shared equally, the
feeling of selfishness is eliminated and a united feeling is gained. Plus,
since socialism bars the difference caused on the grounds of color, sex, creed
or religion, harmony and unity become the keywords for the countrymen.
Creates Better Human Resources
As
all people, irrespective of their differences, are provided extensive public
services and better facilities, they achieve their full potential. Better
education facilities for all also help in creating better human resource.
Manpower doubles, thus doubling the country’s economic growth, as everyone
works towards a life of betterment.
Negative effect Of Socialism
Unreal Theory
True
socialism is an imaginative theory and cannot be implemented as it
is. Today, socialism is not adopted in the same way, as it was advocated
by Karl Marx and other socialists. The original form of socialism is neither
preached nor practiced.
Negatively Influences Growth Of Economy
Socialism
is actually economically inefficient, as it puts off entrepreneurs from
generating wealth, because they usually have to pay higher taxes.
Improper Implementation
In
socialist countries today, there are a handful of bureaucrats who control and
use the power of the state. They redistribute and regulate wealth and decide on
taxation for the people. Thus, in reality, people do not have control over
wealth. This limits people’s political freedom and reverses the overall
concept.
Poverty & Social Evils Are Not Eliminated
Socialism
might redistribute some of the wealth of the richest members of the society to
the poor, but this move does not eliminate poverty as a whole. The overall
growth of economy suffers considerably. If there is not enough wealth, then
distribution can be hampered.
Boosts Incompetence
As socialism provides
the poorest with higher levels of income via social security payments, it
deters them from working hard, if at all. It also creates a negative feeling in
the minds of hard working fellows, as they gain no extra incentives for working
hard. Adding to their woes, lazy people get paid equally as they do. This
negatively impacts productivity and thus economic growth.
No Real Increase In Standard Of Living
Instead
of improving the living standards for all, socialism actually lowers the income
of the richest to reduce the divide and make them fall close to the income
levels of the poorest.
