Socialism
| Part of a series on |
| Socialism |
|---|
Development
|
Ideas
|
Models
|
Variants
|
People
|
Organizations
|
|
The term socialism refers to two fundamentally different ideologies - democratic socialism and Marxist-Leninist socialism. The Marxist-Leninists sought to work towards a classless, stateless, moneyless society with a Marxist ideology by first creating a socialist state, which represents the proletariat. On the other hand, democratic socialists attempt to work towards an ideal state by social reform and are often little different from social democrats, with the democratic socialists having a more leftist stance.
The Marxist-Leninist form of government has been in decline since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its satellite states. Very few countries have governments that describe themselves as socialist in the Marxist sense; as of 2012, only Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, Cuba, and the People's Republic of China do so.
On the contrary, electoral parties that describe themselves as socialist or democratic socialist are on the rise, joined together by international organizations such as the Socialist International and the Fourth International. Parties described as socialist are currently dominant in the democracies of the developing world and serve as the ruling party or the main opposition party in most European democracies. Eco-socialism, and Green politics with a strong leftist tinge, are on the rise in European democracies.
The characterization of a party or government often has little to do with its actual economical and social platform. The government of mainland China, which describes itself as socialist, allows a large private sector to flourish and is socially conservative compared to most Western democracies. A more specific example is universal health-care, which is a trademark issue of many European socialist parties but does not exist in mainland China. Therefore, the historical and cultural aspects of a movement must be taken into context in order for one to arrive at an accurate conclusion of its political ideology from its nominal characterization.
Read more about this topic: Marxistic, Political Marxism
Other articles related to "socialism":
... and leadership, some to the incompatibility of socialism and American values, and others to the limitations imposed by the American constitution ... If socialism represented the future, then it should be strongest in the United States ... and improved working conditions, not socialism, collective ownership or equality of outcome, and disappeared after their goals were taken up by Jacksonian ...
... Some of the primary criticisms of socialism are claims that it creates distorted or absent price signals, results in reduced incentives, causes reduced ...
... Marxists believe that the transition from capitalism to socialism is an inevitable part of the development of human society as Lenin stated, "it is evident that Marx ...
... Socialism Utopian and Scientific (Die Entwicklung des Sozialismus von der Utopie zur Wissenschaft) is an extract from Anti-Dühring, a polemic against philosopher Eugen Dühring published by Friedrich ... The title Socialism Utopian and Scientific was adopted for the English publication in 1892 ...
Famous quotes containing the word socialism:
“Men conceive themselves as morally superior to those with whom they differ in opinion. A Socialist who thinks that the opinions of Mr. Gladstone on Socialism are unsound and his own sound, is within his rights; but a Socialist who thinks that his opinions are virtuous and Mr. Gladstone’s vicious, violates the first rule of morals and manners in a Democratic country; namely, that you must not treat your political opponent as a moral delinquent.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“To make men Socialists is nothing, but to make Socialism human is a great thing.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“If Socialism can only be realized when the intellectual development of all the people permits it, then we shall not see Socialism for at least five hundred years.”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924)