I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
-Albert Einstein
Everybody (especially you, Avi) is always asking me "What is Socialism, Marantz?" and "Aren't Socialism and Communism the same thing, Marantz?" Since I can never remember the good arguments off the top of my head, I often end up giving a bad explanation of what it is or arguing with people about simple things that I should be able to answer easily. So I decided to write a note explaining what Socialism is, and why I (and many others, some of which would surprise you) believe that Socialism is an ideal worth working towards. This will start with a simple definition and get progressively more complex as I go along.
Part One - What is Socialism?
So you want to know what Socialism is, eh? Well to start with,
Wikipedia defines Socialism as:
"A broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control."
Great eh? Now I bet that helped alot.
To translate, the first thing the definition states is that Socialism can be used to many different doctrines - i.e. the definition is rather slippery. It does have certain basic characteristics which I'll try to pin down here.
The next thing that Wikipedia tells us is that Socialism refers to a socio-economic system,
NOT a political one. This provides the simple answer to the "Aren't Socialism and Communism the same thing?" question I mentioned earlier, that answer being "No, Socialism is a socio-economic system and Communism is a political system." Another way of putting this is that Socialism has no beef with the Democracy we have in America - it's arguments are restricted solely to Capitalism.
The last part of the definition, that in Socialism "Property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control", is also the most informative part. See, under Capitalism everybody controls their own wealth and possessions. In a Socialist society, on the other hand, control is placed in the hands of the community - so even though you wouldn't be able to stop that kid who sits next to you from using your iPod whenever he wants, or even taking it home with him, as soon as you came of age (whatever that age happens to be in that society) you'd be able to borrow your neighbor's Mercedes whenever you wanted, provided noone else was using it at the time.
Part Two - What is so great about Socialism?
That's Socialism in a nutshell, I guess. Now to go into what I like so much about the idea.
The first thing is simply that I believe that, in a society with a properly motivated and educated populace, Socialism functions better than Capitalism does.
The definition of Capitalism that I'll be using here, incidentally, is a system where objects and other property are largely placed under the control of individuals, and that these properties can then be traded for other properties or services that are evaluated to be worth approximately the same amount of capital (aka money). So basically, what we have in most of the modern world.
The first thing I'd like to point out about Capitalism is that it inherently encourages corruption of those who have the power to effect the entire society (big businessmen and politicians). Because every service and property can be valued in terms of money, why (from the perspective of the individual politician or businessman) should any service that he can perform using the power granted him by his office be different? Or if you prefer, why shouldn't he accept bribes? If the potential gain outweighs the risk, why should a politician not sell his vote on some critical issue?
If you prefer, think of it in terms of the way modern medicine works. When does a doctor get paid? Either when the patient comes in for a regular checkup, or when the patient is sick. On the surface it seems like the doctor should simply try to make his patients sick... ah, but if the patient catches on, the doctor risks making the patient move to another practice, or even getting sued for malpractice! The advantage now clearly goes to doctors who manage to keep their patients sick only slightly longer than usual so as to escape notice.
"But Marantz," you ask, "is there any other model used to pay for medical care?" Well yes there is, now that you mention it. In some Eastern countries instead of paying a doctor to make you well when you're sick, you pay a doctor to keep you from getting sick when you're well! In this model, if you get sick you STOP paying your doctor until he gets you well again! Although this is bad for naturally healthy people, it makes alot of sense since it encourages the doctor to keep you as healthy as possible for as long as possible.
Socialism opparates on similar principles. In a Socialist-Democratic society, the heads of state are encouraged to pass laws that stabilize the society and lead to general economic prosperity instead of laws that are good for them and their friends, simply because they can't help themselves without helping others - since they have no personal property, the only way they can get richer is by making the community richer. IMO this would solve many of the problems in today's society.
Well I'm tired, so although I'll probably add more later I figure this is enough for now. I do suggest, however, that anybody seriously read this articlem entitled
Why Socialism?, by Albert Einstein which explains better than I ever could why Socialism is a good idea. Lemme know if this helps or not, or if you're actually interested in hearing more.
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