Capitalism, socialism, communism are forms of the economic structure of society. They can be called the stages of development of social relations. Many thinkers studied them. Different authors have different views on capitalism and socialism , on other models that came to replace them , and the consequences of their existence. Consider the basic concepts below.
The system of capitalism and socialism
Capitalism is the economic model of production and distribution, which is based on private property, freedom of business, legal equality of economic entities. The key criterion for making decisions in such conditions is the desire to increase capital and maximize profits.
The transition from capitalism to socialism has not occurred in all countries. The determining criterion for their consistent existence was the form of government. Meanwhile, the signs of capitalism and socialism are characteristic, to one degree or another, of the economic models of almost all countries. In certain states, the dominance of capital remains today.
If you make a superficial comparison of capitalism and socialism , it can be noted that there is a close relationship between them. The first concept is an economic abstraction. It reflects the characteristic features of the economic model at a certain stage of development. However, the real economy of any country has never been based solely on private property relations, and entrepreneurship has never been completely free.
The transition from capitalism to socialism in a number of countries was very painful. It was accompanied by popular upheavals, revolutions. At the same time, entire classes of society were destroyed. Such, for example, was the transition from capitalism to socialism in Russia .
Distinctive features of models
Different countries developed and moved to various stages at different times. It depended on many factors. In the West, for example, feudalism reigned for a long time . Capitalism and socialism have become the next steps in the development of society. However, the latter survived in eastern countries.
Despite the fact that there are many differences between capitalism and socialism , the first has a number of unusual features. Among them:
- Restriction of ownership of property, including the size of land and real estate.
- Antitrust rules.
- Customs barriers.
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Schumpeter, an American and Austrian economist, proposed the concept of "creative destruction." For him, capitalism was associated with private property, the economy of entrepreneurship, and the market mechanism.
Schumpeter studied the economic dynamics of changes in society. He attributed the emergence of capitalism, socialism and democracy to the advent of innovation. Due to their introduction into different capabilities, resources and other production factors, subjects begin to create something new.
The author called the core of capitalist development "creative destruction." Entrepreneurs, in his opinion, are carriers of innovation. At the same time, lending helps business entities.
Schumpeter believed that capitalism made it possible to achieve an unprecedented level of wealth and personal freedom. Meanwhile, the future of this model, he estimated very pessimistic. The author believed that the further development of society would destroy capitalism. Liberalism and socialism will be the result of its penetration into all social spheres of life. That is, in fact, the success of the model will lead to its collapse. The author explained such consequences by the fact that new systems will destroy the conditions under which capitalism can exist : either socialism (for example, it happened in Russia ), or another new model will come to replace it in any case.
Schumpeter paid special attention to democracy in his works. The author analyzed socialism and capitalism , formulated the probable further development of society. In the framework of research, the key issue was the relationship between the socialist model of organization and the democratic form of government.
Studying the development of the Soviet state, in which capitalism, socialism, communism consistently spread, the changes were premature. Schumpeter considered the situation in the country to be socialism in a distorted form. To solve economic problems, the government used dictatorial methods. The author is closer to the English and Scandinavian social democratic system. Comparing the development of capitalism and socialism in different countries, these systems seemed to him the least evil.
Comparative characteristics
Consider the difference between capitalism and socialism . Different thinkers distinguish various features of both models. The main general characteristics of socialism can be considered:
- Universal equality.
- Restriction of private property relations.
Unlike capitalism, under socialism, subjects could have objects only in their personal property. Capitalist enterprises were replaced by corporate ones. For socialism, the formation of communes is characteristic. Inside these associations, all property is common.
The socialists opposed the capitalists mainly because the latter exploited people to achieve their goals. At the same time, there was a clear distinction between classes. With the development of private property relations, the separation of layers became more and more distinct.
The differences between socialism and capitalism were especially pronounced in Russia. People dissatisfied with the conditions of life and work, advocated justice and equality, the eradication of oppression, which was widespread in the country. In other states, capitalism was not perceived so painfully. The fact is that other societies went through their transformation faster. Socialists considered the destruction of private property relations as one of the ways to achieve the ultimate goal - the formation of an organized society.
Mises concept
The aim of socialism, according to the author, is the transfer of production assets from private property to state ownership. This is necessary to eliminate operation. In a capitalist society, man was removed from the results of his labor. The task of socialism is to bring the individual closer to benefits, to reduce income differentiation. The result should be a harmonious and free development of the individual.
However, elements of inequality may persist, but they should not impede achievement of goals.
Directions
Today, socialism distinguishes 2 key trends: Marxism and anarchism.
According to representatives of the second direction, within the framework of state socialism, the exploitation of the people, the removal of man from goods, and other problems will continue. Accordingly, anarchists believe that real socialism can be established only with the destruction of the state.
Marxists called socialism a model of the organization of society at the stage of transition from capitalism to communism. In other words, they did not consider this model ideal. For Marxists, socialism was a kind of preparatory stage for the creation of a society of social justice. Since socialism follows capitalism, it retains capitalist attributes.
The main ideas of socialism
In accordance with the goals set, programs for their achievement were formed.
The result of labor, in particular, was supposed to be distributed according to the contribution of each individual producer. He should have been given a receipt, which reflected the amount of his work. In accordance with it, the manufacturer could get commodities from the public stock.
The principle of equivalence was proclaimed dominant under socialism. In accordance with it, the same volumes of labor were exchanged. However, since different people have different abilities, they should receive an unequal part of commodities.
In the property of people there can be nothing but personal commodities. Unlike capitalism, in socialism private enterprise was a criminal offense.
Communist Manifesto
The Communist Party was formed after the elimination of capitalism. The Communists based their program on socialist ideas. The Manifesto reflected the following signs of a new system:
- The expropriation of land ownership, the use of rent to cover government costs.
- Establishing a high progressive tax.
- Cancellation of inheritance law.
- Confiscation of property belonging to rebels and emigrants.
- Centralization of credit resources in the hands of the state through the formation of a state bank with state capital and a monopoly of power.
- An increase in the number of state-owned enterprises, implements of production, land improvement, and land clearing for arable land according to a single plan.
- Establishment of a state monopoly on transport.
- The unification of industry and agriculture, the gradual elimination of the differences between town and country.
- Equal labor service for all.
- Free public education of children, the cessation of the exploitation of child labor in factories.
Features of the emergence of socialism
Ideology has been developing for quite some time. However, the term "socialism" first appeared only in the 30s. 19th century. Its author is the French theorist Pierre Leroux. In 1934 he published an article "On Individualism and Socialism".
The first ideas about the formation of socialist ideology arose in the 16th century. They expressed a spontaneous protest of the lower (exploited) layers during the initial stage of capital accumulation. The ideas of an ideal society corresponding to human nature, in which there is no exploitation, and the lower class has all the benefits, began to be called utopian socialism. The founders of the concept are T. More and T. Campanella. They believed that public ownership would ensure the formation of conditions for a fair distribution of wealth, equality, social peace and the well-being of the population.
The development of theory during the 17-19 centuries.
Quite a lot of thinkers tried to find a formula for an ideal world, since in a capitalist society that was rife with wealth, there were a huge number of poor people.
A special contribution to the development of socialist concepts was made by A. Saint-Simon, S. Fourier, R. Owen. They formed their ideas under the influence of events in France (the Great Revolution), as well as the active development of capital.
It is worth saying that the concepts of theorists of socialist utopianism sometimes diverged significantly. However, they all believed that conditions had formed in society for immediate transformations on fair conditions. The initiators of the reforms were to be those who held high positions in society. The propertied people must help the poor, ensure a happy life for everyone. Socialist ideology was aimed at protecting the interests of the working class, proclaiming social progress.
Basic principles
Socialists proclaimed the following ideas:
- From each individual according to his abilities, each ability to do business.
- Harmonious and comprehensive development of personality.
- Eliminating the differences between the village and the city.
- A variety of spiritual and physical labor.
- The free development of each individual as a condition for the development of the whole society.
Utopians to a certain extent were maximalists. They believed that society should be happy or all at once, or none at all.
The ideology of the proletariat
The communists also strove to achieve general welfare. Communism is considered an extreme manifestation of socialism. This ideology was more consistent in its desire to reform society by establishing collective ownership of the means of production, and in some cases, consumer goods.
At the very beginning of the 19th century, Marxism was formed. It was considered as the theoretical basis of the proletarian movement. Marx and Engels formulated a socio-political, economic and philosophical theory, which had a huge impact on the development of society in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Communist ideology and Marxism began to be considered synonyms.
Society, according to Marx, is not an open model of a happy system. Communism, Marxists believed, is a natural result of the development of civilization.
The followers of the concept believed that capitalist relations formed the conditions for a social revolution, the elimination of private property, and the transition to socialism. Marxists highlighted the key contradiction of the model: it arose between the social nature of labor, formed by the market and industry, and private ownership of production assets.
Capitalism, according to Marxists, created its annihilator - the proletariat. The liberation of the working people is the goal of the social revolution. At the same time, the proletariat, freeing itself, eliminates forms of exploitation in relation to all workers.
According to Marxists, socialism can come to socialism only in the process of historical creativity of the working class. And it, in turn, must be embodied through a social revolution. As a result, the achievement of socialism has become the goal of millions of people.
The formation of the communist formation
This process, according to Marx and Engels, involves several stages:
- Transition period.
- The establishment of socialism.
- Communism.
The development of a new model is a long process. It should be based on humanistic principles proclaiming man as the highest value.
Communism allows, according to the Marxists, to form a society of free and conscious workers. It should establish public self-government. Moreover, the state as an administrative mechanism should cease to exist. In a communist society there should not be classes, and social equality should be embodied in the installation "From each individual according to his ability and to each according to his needs."
Marx considered communism the path to the limitless flowering of a man free from exploitation, the beginning of a true story.
Democratic socialism
At the present stage of development of society, a huge number of different political and social movements have been formed. The ideology of social democracy, so popular at the present time, has its roots in the reformist trend in the Second International. His ideas are presented in the works of Bernstein, Vollmar, Jaurès and others. The concepts of liberal reformism, including Keynesianism, had a special influence on it.
A distinctive feature of social democratic ideology is the desire for reformism. The concept justifies the policy of regulation, redistribution of profit in a market economy. Bernstein, one of the prominent theorists of the Second International, categorically denied the inevitability of the destruction of capitalism and the offensive of socialism in this connection. He believed that socialism cannot be reduced to replacing private property relations with public ones. The path to it is the search for new collective forms of production in the context of the peaceful establishment of the capitalist economic model and political democracy. The slogan of the reformists was the statement "The goal is nothing, the movement is everything."
Modern concept
Its common features were described in the 50s. last century. The concept was based on the Declaration adopted at the international conference in Frankfurt.
According to program documents, democratic socialism is a path different from both capitalism and actual socialism. The first, as the adherents of the concept believed, allowed the creation of a huge number of productive forces, but at the same time exalted the right of ownership over the rights of a citizen. The Communists, in turn, destroyed freedom by creating another class society, a new but ineffective economic model based on forced labor.
Social democrats attach equal importance to the principles of individual freedom, solidarity and justice. In their opinion, the difference between capitalism and socialism is not in the scheme of organization of the economy, but in the position that a person occupies in society, in his freedom, the opportunity to participate in making decisions that are significant for the state, and the right to realize oneself in one area or another.
State socialism
There are 2 forms of it:
- Based on absolute state control over the economy. An example is the command-administrative and planning systems.
- Market socialism. It is understood as such an economic model in which priority is given to state ownership, but at the same time, the principles of a market economy are implemented.
In the framework of market socialism, self-government at enterprises is often established. The provision is affirmed that self-government (not only in the production sphere, but also in society as a whole) acts as the first element of socialism.
For this, according to Bazgalin, it is necessary to develop forms of free independent organization of citizens - from popular accounting to self-government and democratic planning.
The disadvantages of market socialism are its ability to reproduce many of the problems of capitalism, including social inequality, instability, and negative impact on nature. However, adherents of this direction of the development of society believe that all these problems should be eliminated by active state intervention.