From the beginning, socialism has been presented as the antidote to capitalism. It has been explained as the end of capitalism and its replacement. Then along came Marx who wrote volumes analyzing capitalism and suggesting socialism (he called it "lower communism") as the undoing and replacement for capitalism. And his writings were so thorough and detailed that the socialist world adopted those writings as their code, their rationale, --their "bible". Now, --and since the 20th century, --any serious socialist movement or party has stated that it follows Marx and has declared itself to be Marxist. Marx has become the standard. Anytime a person now mentions socialism, Marx comes to mind in some way. Marx is tied to all ideas of socialism.
In Marx's writings and in the literature of every Marxist effort by any communist party or any socialist party, you would find slogans like "workers unite and cast off the chains of wage slavery". Think about that. And BTW the slogan accurately reflects the intentions of the Marxian perspective. "Workers unite" suggests a collective effort. "Cast off the chains of wage slavery" suggests an end to the relationship of worker to boss. So how does this different relationship of socialism appear? What are its characteristics?
To answer that and see the clear difference, we can look at the simple, clear, fundamental characteristics of each, -socialism and capitalism, -to see the difference.
Capitalism is in every case a system in which private ownership and control of production produces private profits. The profits are "private" because they are not shared proportionately with everyone involved. Instead, the owner(s) of the business are the ones who decide what to produce, where to produce, when to produce, how to produce, and what to do with the profits. The relationship of worker to boss is one in which the worker has no meaningful say in any of those decisions. S/he is told what to do, when, where, and how. There is no democracy for the worker.
Socialism is in every case a system in which the workers own and control their work life. They collectively and democratically decide what to produce, where to produce, when to produce, how to produce, and what to do with the profits. They decide what the pay scale is to be. They hire and fire the CEO and Board members. They have equal representation on the Board along with invited Board members. Their relationship of worker to boss is identity: they ARE the boss.
Note: if these conditions of socialism are not present, IT ISN'T SOCIALISM.
So capitalism is private ownership and control of production for private profit.
Socialism is collective worker ownership and control of production for mutual benefit and the benefit of the community and nation.
In any capitalist economy, there are necessarily many, many details, laws, rules, programs, policies, etc. which are all designed to keep the basic capitalist structure of economy running smoothly. Some of those capitalist economies have tried a strict "free market" approach, as we had in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But due to workers rebelling and revolting against the harsh conditions that result, it doesn't seem to last very long.
Then there is the majority of capitalist economies in which various socially-beneficial programs are implemented in order to appease the workers, be a bit more fair to them, keep them content by providing perks and benefits, and win their loyalty. It is still capitalism even with all this socially-beneficial dressing because the underlying economic system is one in which private ownership and control of production rules for the production of private profits. These socially-beneficial programs are established FOR capitalism. The relationships of production haven't changed.
So it's incorrect to speak of a capitalist country being a "mix of socialism and capitalism". There is no support or incentives for worker ownership and control in a capitalist economy. Yes, we have some worker co-ops in the US, but their development is not a goal of government. So the system is capitalism.
Socialism:
Socialism has been the stated goal of every Marxist movement and revolution. Every one of them, once they took power, followed a strategy to "get to" socialism. And each of them hit serious road bumps along the way, and those bumps eventually brought the strategy and the momentum toward socialism to an end in most cases. (The jury is still out on Cuba, and they continue to work at the strategy, which still changes.)
No country exists in which the effort to establish socialism reached its goal with an established, finished, functioning worker ownership and control system. The USSR and China both descended into state capitalism which Lenin warned about. In state capitalism the relationship (remember that word?) of worker to boss didn't change. The key is the relationship.
So, what country is a socialist country? There is none. Not yet.
In Marx's writings and in the literature of every Marxist effort by any communist party or any socialist party, you would find slogans like "workers unite and cast off the chains of wage slavery". Think about that. And BTW the slogan accurately reflects the intentions of the Marxian perspective. "Workers unite" suggests a collective effort. "Cast off the chains of wage slavery" suggests an end to the relationship of worker to boss. So how does this different relationship of socialism appear? What are its characteristics?
To answer that and see the clear difference, we can look at the simple, clear, fundamental characteristics of each, -socialism and capitalism, -to see the difference.
Capitalism is in every case a system in which private ownership and control of production produces private profits. The profits are "private" because they are not shared proportionately with everyone involved. Instead, the owner(s) of the business are the ones who decide what to produce, where to produce, when to produce, how to produce, and what to do with the profits. The relationship of worker to boss is one in which the worker has no meaningful say in any of those decisions. S/he is told what to do, when, where, and how. There is no democracy for the worker.
Socialism is in every case a system in which the workers own and control their work life. They collectively and democratically decide what to produce, where to produce, when to produce, how to produce, and what to do with the profits. They decide what the pay scale is to be. They hire and fire the CEO and Board members. They have equal representation on the Board along with invited Board members. Their relationship of worker to boss is identity: they ARE the boss.
Note: if these conditions of socialism are not present, IT ISN'T SOCIALISM.
So capitalism is private ownership and control of production for private profit.
Socialism is collective worker ownership and control of production for mutual benefit and the benefit of the community and nation.
In any capitalist economy, there are necessarily many, many details, laws, rules, programs, policies, etc. which are all designed to keep the basic capitalist structure of economy running smoothly. Some of those capitalist economies have tried a strict "free market" approach, as we had in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But due to workers rebelling and revolting against the harsh conditions that result, it doesn't seem to last very long.
Then there is the majority of capitalist economies in which various socially-beneficial programs are implemented in order to appease the workers, be a bit more fair to them, keep them content by providing perks and benefits, and win their loyalty. It is still capitalism even with all this socially-beneficial dressing because the underlying economic system is one in which private ownership and control of production rules for the production of private profits. These socially-beneficial programs are established FOR capitalism. The relationships of production haven't changed.
So it's incorrect to speak of a capitalist country being a "mix of socialism and capitalism". There is no support or incentives for worker ownership and control in a capitalist economy. Yes, we have some worker co-ops in the US, but their development is not a goal of government. So the system is capitalism.
Socialism:
Socialism has been the stated goal of every Marxist movement and revolution. Every one of them, once they took power, followed a strategy to "get to" socialism. And each of them hit serious road bumps along the way, and those bumps eventually brought the strategy and the momentum toward socialism to an end in most cases. (The jury is still out on Cuba, and they continue to work at the strategy, which still changes.)
No country exists in which the effort to establish socialism reached its goal with an established, finished, functioning worker ownership and control system. The USSR and China both descended into state capitalism which Lenin warned about. In state capitalism the relationship (remember that word?) of worker to boss didn't change. The key is the relationship.
So, what country is a socialist country? There is none. Not yet.
