I wrote this a few months ago in response to someones question. Q: What is socialism? What is the difference between socialism and communism? *** A: The form of a society (its mode of production) can change from capitalism to socialism only when the working class leads the masses of people to defeat the capitalist class and take control of society away from them. This includes seizing political power, as well as the means of production (factories, resources, etc). Modes of production, and the differences between them, are defined by how the society produces and distributes the necessities of daily life (food, clothing, shelter, energy, transportation, etc), and who controls the process. Under capitalism, everything is produced for one reason only: the constant accumulation of capital. The fundamental source of capital is surplus value, which is a form of profit generated by the exploitation of workers in the process of production. All of society is arranged to serve the interests of one class, a small minority of humanity: the capitalists. This class currently owns and controls society’s means of production, holds political power, and controls the dissemination of ideas and information to make people accept being dominated by them. Under socialism, everything is produced for a completely different reason: for the needs of society as a whole. And under socialism, the broad masses of people (everyone except those who want to bring capitalism back) run society together, democratically making decisions for the benefit of everyone. A capitalist society can have socialistic tendencies and instances (like free medical care and education, workers’ co-ops, and industries that require a highly coordinated large number of people). But without the working class in power over society as a whole, running the economy for the benefit of the whole, then it is not socialism. Under capitalism, even these instances are shaped and exist to serve capital accumulation. Capitalism and socialism are overarching ensembles of social relations (economic, political, ideological) that define and determine the nature of the entire society, and they can’t co-exist. One will always dominate and crush the other. Socialism inherits the defeated capitalist system, and must transform it to serve the society as a whole, rather than capital accumulation. This involves changing the way things are produced, the way people have been trained to think, and the way social endeavors are decided, administered and carried out. All these elements, which have developed under and been shaped by capitalism, can’t shake off the past in an instant, but need to be worked on over time, toward overcoming them. So in the early stages, there will necessarily still be holdovers or remnants from capitalism, like wages being paid according to the amount of work someone does, and ingrained habits of individualism, greed, competition, passivity and subservience. In order to prevent capitalism from coming back, there will need to be constant effort to break down class divisions and the old ways of thinking that divide people. More and more people need to become actively involved in making collective decisions for society, and participating in collective production, so that power can’t be once again concentrated in the hands of a few. For both socialists and communists, the present goal is to emancipate society from capitalism, thereby ending exploitation and private accumulation. This will begin by instituting the common ownership of the means of production, along with a more genuinely democratic form of government that administers the collective product of society for the good of the whole. Some socialists believe that this can be done by electing a different government within the capitalist framework. But the capitalist class won’t give up power so easily, and a revolution will be required to overthrow them. A transfer of government (even violently) or ownership is insufficient—the entire matrix of social relations must be radically transformed. Communists believe that in order to completely wipe out and prevent the return of class divisions, we have to go further than socialism. Communism is a collective, classless society. Communists consider socialism a transition period between capitalism and communism, during which the working class is in power (the dictatorship of the proletariat). This stage could last a long time, and is characterized by constant struggle and progress toward eliminating class divisions altogether. The state, in particular, must be constantly in the process of being broken down, to prevent a new class (the bureaucratic bourgeoisie) from forming and reinstituting capitalism. Communism will be achieved when there are no longer any class divisions between people. The state, an instrument of class rule (whether in the hands of capitalists or the working class), will have disintegrated along with classes themselves. In communism, each individual will freely and voluntarily participate in collective production according to their abilities, and receive whatever they need.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 12:26:36 +0000
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