As socialism has fascinatingly made its way into more of our national conversation — due to the impression that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders seems an authentic, affable candidate — I thought it would be wise to begin to discuss what socialism actually is. Note that such is not a simple nor easily contained discussion. There are multiple angles possible from which people perch.
According to Oxford Dictionaries, socialism is “a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.” Oxford includes the following synonyms: “leftism, welfarism, radicalism, progressivism, social democracy, communism, Marxism, and labor movement.”
According to the Free Dictionary, socialism is “(1) any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy. Or… (2) the stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which the means of production are collectively owned but a completely classless society has not yet been achieved.”
According to Investopedia, socialism is “an economic and political system based on public or collective ownership of the means of production. Socialism emphasizes equality rather than achievement, and values workers by the amount of time they put in rather than by the amount of value they produce. It also makes individuals dependent on the state for everything from food to health care. China, Vietnam and Cuba are examples of modern-day socialist societies. Twentieth-century socialist governments were overthrown in Czechoslovakia, East Germany and the U.S.S.R.”
Note that there exist multiple varieties of socialism, and there does not seem a singular definition that encapsulates every aspect. Just as there exist varied Republicans and Democrats — such as “Reagan Democrats,” “Log Cabin Republicans,” the “Agnostic Left,” and “Values Voters” — there are varied kinds of socialists, emphasizing varied aspects and/or political priorities.
Hence, also similar to Republicans and Democrats, there exist some common priorities among socialists: increased government ownership and control, increased social welfare, less competition, individual equality, and some level of redistribution of income. Note that under a fully socialist system, there would be no private property, no varied individual, economic status, and the government would be responsible for the basic necessities of our lives — therefore being responsible for the distribution of our wealth.
In addition to these common priorities among the varied strands of socialism, it is also wise to examine the effect of socialism throughout history. Russian mathematician, Igor Shafarevich, shared such in his iconic work,“The Socialist Phenomenon,” 35 years ago. In his much publicized research, one of the unique aspects of socialism that each of us should examine is the existence of three persistent abolition themes across the decades of varied socialist approaches:
(1) The abolition of private property
(2) The abolition of the family; and…
(3) The abolition of religion.
Friends, let me be very clear. Current day socialists may not agree with the common threads above; such, however, has been historically true of nations when socialism is implemented and embraced.
Let me also again state that Sen. Sanders seems an authentic, affable candidate. Yet similar to the understandable claims that the Tea Party pulled Republicans to a fringe right in 2008, claims can be equally asserted that socialism supporters are currently pulling Democrats to a fringe left.
Hence, my desire is not to criticize a candidate; rather, I believe it’s important to evaluate the wisdom of the system. What are the benefits of socialism? What are the pitfalls? Why are a significant many in the United States currently accepting of a historically, more oppressive system? And how can we be certain the extremes will not be executed nor embraced?
Just asking questions, friends… it’s always good to ask the questions.
Respectfully…
AR