What is socialism? This term was first published in the work of Pierre Leroux in 1834. However, he did not formulate a further definition of the concept, denoting the opposite of “individualism”. Around the same time in England, this term began to be used among the followers of Owen. In those days, socialism generalized the doctrine of the need for social transformation.
Community socialism, which arose in the middle of the 19th century in Russia, became a clear example of the situation that prevailed at that time. It was A.I. Herzen who in his works drew attention to the communal orders that dominated the peasant world. In his opinion, they should have become the beginning of the establishment of a socialist system. Many years of experience in the community system led to the emergence of a whole range of measures that supported the ruined farms. For the peasant community were characteristic features of the redistribution of land, mutual responsibility, collective decision-making.
Already over time, M. Tugan-Baranovsky wrote that the creators,
answering the question of what socialism is, they wanted to characterize a new social direction, which put forward the importance of cooperation in society. It was supposed to be the opposite of the economic school, which dominated at that time and which recognized sole business as the ideal of the economic system.
On the basis of a philosophical definition of what socialism is, a political ideology was formulated that put forward as a goal a society where there is no exploitation of man, and justice and social equality are affirmed. Having discarded national specifics, this concept has long been defined as a form of social organization, where the main productive means, as well as land, belong to the state, which organizes farming. In addition, it deals with the distribution of labor products in conjunction with the principle: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work."
However, the story has made adjustments. What is socialism in the modern sense? This is a society where the state’s ownership of the means of production dominates in equality with other
forms of ownership, including private. In addition, he suggests a form of political power that is aimed at satisfying the interests of the entire population.
This definition is closely related to such a concept as “democratic socialism”. It is understood as a society that has a multistructure economy focused on the interests of the people, and state and public control have the same orientation. The fundamental principles of democratic socialism are:
- social justice. This concept includes social relations that ensure fair pay, equal opportunities for any person and for cultural development, equal protection and so on. In accordance with this principle, subsoil, forests, water and wildlife are the property of the whole people;
- social equality means ensuring the equal rights of all citizens, as well as political and cultural equality, equal social protection and guarantees.