socialism key themes

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  • socialism key themes
    • collectivism
      • humans can achieve their political, social and economic objectives by collective action. Society can only be transformed by a collective endeavour
        • the interests of the group should take priority over individual self-interest.
        • people are defined by the social groups they belong to, so membership of a community and society offers fulfilment
      • human are social creatures with a natural  tendency to work together to achieve their goals.
      • collective effort utilises the economic potential of society
      • collective action via the state ensures a fairer distribution of goods and services than free-market
    • common humanity
      • the individual cannot be understood without reference to society, because human behaviour is determined by people's place in society
      • humans are naturally inclined to work together for the common good.
        • cooperative effort produces the best results for society, enables people to form connections based on respect, understanding and mutual support. is superior to capitalist competition which puts people against each other and undermines common humanity
      • moral motivation- humans can be driven
    • equality
      • social equality/equality of outcome. Socialists seek equal distrubution of income and wealth
      • egalitarianism- a theory of practise designed to remove or reduce inequalities and ensure a fair chance in life
      • revolutionary socialists demand absolute equality, the abolition of private property and replacement with common owernship of all means of production.
      • social democrats call for relative equality with a reformed capitalist economy via welfare measures, government spending and progressive taxation to remove absolute poverty. Material incentives continue to play an important role in human motivation, nd greater emphasis is placed on equality of opportunity
      • economic inequality is due to capitalism not innate difference between people
      • humans beings are more likely to work together with the same social and economic conditions
      • with a greater distribution of wealth and resources will promote human fulfilment and realise human potential
      • socialists believe common ownership ensures all can participate and benefit. They say welfare is a communal effort and should be owned collectively.
        • private property encourages materialism and the false belief that personal wealth will bring fulfilment and creates social conflict.
    • social class
      • socialists believe members of a social class have similar outlooks and aims. Social classes are therefore the principal agents of change.
      • Marxists believes a persons class is economically determined by their relationship to the means of production. Conflict is inevitable between the classes. the upper class use the political and legal system to maintain their dominance.
        • class conflict will lead to a worker revolution and create a classless, equal society and the state withers away.
      • social democrats define class more flexibly, emphasising income and status differences between non manual and manual job groups.
        • socialists objectives can be achieved through targeted government intervention to reduce but not remove inequality
    • workers control
      • workers control is based on socialist views on human nature as it promotes collective effort and pursuit of group interests.
      • workers control within socialism can mean two things - workers running industry or workers control of the state
      • workers are the most important element in economic production  so they should have the right to control the means of production.
      • workers control is an important step towards a socialist society

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