According to socialistagenda.info, socialism is defined as: “…a theoretical economic system that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution in the community of stakeholder as a whole.” This is, for the most part, how I view socialism. Basically it means there are no “higher-ups” in control of everything. It means the person who makes the bread is just as important as management. The root of the word socialism is, of course, social; and this is where the power lies.
I have a very open mind when it comes to politics. I have studied various systems of government from monarchies to anarchy (which is the complete lack of government.) What is appealing about socialism is that it puts everyone in power; which, in its pure theoretical pure form, keeps greed in check. In theory, under a system of socialism, CEOs would not be able to make the billions they do today unless the workers had significantly higher salaries. I look at socialism rationally and for what it is. Socialism is an equal distribution of power, economically. I think of socialism as economic democracy.
What’s so bad about socialism then? It is arguable that socialism takes away motivation and incentives to work hard in order to gain power. A theoretical argument is “Why would I want to work hard to become a CEO when the pay isn’t all that much better?” This is a valid point. However, what I believe where the danger lies is in the misconception of socialism. This is the first image I found when I searched “socialism”
This is a blatant misinterpretation of socialism. The sickle and hammer is the symbol of communism. This would be like having a sign shaped like a hamburger that says “Hot dogs for sale” on it. This is the symbol for the socialist party in the US.
The problem is lots of people mistake socialism for communism, or fear socialism will inevitably lead to communism. According to Merriam-Webster socialism is defined as:
3. A stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
Of course there's nobody who likes communism because they associate it with these guys.
I completely agree with you that in America there is a common misconception concerning Socialism and an automatic association with communism and those behind the communist party.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your definition of Socialism, “…a theoretical economic system that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution in the community of stakeholder as a whole.”
I completely agree with that definition and that there are positive aspects of Socialism as well as that it is a type of economic democracy. My blog also mentioned the differences between Communism and Capitalism and how Socialism is a median between the two. It is unfortunate that as Americans we cannot look at the positive aspects of Socialism and implement them into our own government policies. Rather we view Socialism as a path to Communism and some sort of corrupt government similar to a Russian or Korean regime.
Flaco, I strgongly agree with everything you said about you point of view towards socialism. The thoiry of socialism seems to be the perfect way to run a country and its economy. What would be better than being equal and eliminating the differences that lie within a society? I believe, as well as you, that the problem with socialism is the mis interpretation by the people and those who practice or impose it. As I stated in my blog people fear socialism because they have the misinterpretation that it might lead to communism. People don't understand the difference. I also believe that the goverments abuse the idea and in many ocations they do not adapt themselves to socialism and work as if they were not part of the countries population. As you said I am a personal believer that human beings work with incentives, our efforts vary according to what reward we will receive. This idea is imposed to us since we are young with school's grading systems. I appreciate and agree with you point of view towards this topic.
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