Socialism vs. Communism: What’s the Difference? Ella Willford, Piper S-A, Gigi Rich, Grete Hamnes, Anna Moskowitz, Kathy Vo

Socialism Socialism: a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Socialism ● From each according to his ability, to each according to his deeds ● Every member of society needed to contribute in order to benefit ● Functionality of society relies on the general population

Socialism ● Freedoms of religion, speech, & press ● People who work harder get paid more ● Contribution= Reward ● If people want to be part of society, they need to help other members of society ● If people help, they become higher members of society

Communism ● The idea that everyone in a society receives equal shares of the benefits derived from labor ● Designed to allow the poor to rise up and attain financial and social status equal to that of middle-class landowners ● Requires that all means of production be controlled by the state ● Aims to replace private property with public ownership and communal control of the major means of production and the natural resources of a society society

Communism ●From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs ●Every person is allotted resources depending on his or her needs ●It is necessary to first have production so high that there is enough for everyone's needs

Communism ●In an ideal Communist society, people work not because they have to but because they want to and out of a sense of responsibilitypeople responsibility ●No centralized government ●Seeks to manage both the economy and the society by ensuring that property is owned collectively and that control over the distribution of resources is centralized to achieve both classlessness and statelessness

How do they compare? COMMUNISMSOCIALISM No ReligionFreedom of religion, but promotes secularism No LeaderWorks with other political systems Everyone shares EVERYTHINGPrivate property allowed, but factories, parks, stores, etc. are owned by community Hypothetically, everyone is equalEveryone is equal, with laws to prevent inequality Divides society into classesEveryone should be allowed to have the same rights and resources

Socialism effect on Egypt ● Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein became President of Egypt 1956 until his death o wanted to establish Egypt as the leader of the Arab world and to promote a second revolution in Egypt with the purpose of merging Islamic and socialist thinking ● October 1956 embarked on nationalization project for Egypt o believed Socialism was the cure for all of Egypt’s problems o initiated several reforms to modernize al-Azha o 1962 introduces new charter and New Constitution

Reforms on al-Azha ● leading authority in Sunni Islam, wanted to ensure its prominence over the Muslim Brotherhood ● used al-Azha’s sholars as counterweight to Brotherhood's Islamic influence ● changes allowed establishment of coeducational schools and the introduction of evolution into school curriculum ● reforms also included the merge of religious and civil courts ● forced al-Azhar to admit Shia Muslims, Alawites, and Druze into mainstream Islam

1962 Charter and Constitution Called for: ● universal health care ● affordable housing ● vocational schools ● greater women’s rights, as well as family planning ● widening of Suez Canal

● Charter attempted to maintain oversight of the country's civil service to prevent inflation ● New laws provided workers with: o a minimum wage o profit shares o free education o free health care o reduced working hours o encouragement to participate in management.

● Land reforms guaranteed the security of tenant farmers promoted agricultural growth, reduced rural poverty ● Result of the 1962 charter, government ownership of Egyptian business reached 51 percent ● National Union was renamed the Arab Socialist Union (ASU)Arab Socialist Union o more domestic repression o thousands of Islamists were imprisoned, including of military officers.

Arab Socialist Union ● Instiuted as Egypt’s sole poltical party ● promoted Arab Nationalism ● basis of ASU: nationalisation, agrarian reform, and constitutional reform T o seven billion Egyptian pounds of private assets transferred into the public sector o Banks, insurance companies, many large shipping companies, major heavy industries, major basic industries were converted to public control

● Land reforms private land ownership successively reduced from 200 to 100 feddans ● 90% top rate of income tax was levied on income over ten thousand Egyptian pounds ● Boards of directors required a minimum number of workers ● Workers and peasants were guaranteed at least half of the seats in the People's Assembly.

Communism’s Effect on Egypt ● Jewish leadership of several of the organizations caused arguing and division ● 3 Jews emerged from circle of minorities/foreigners in Cairo and established New Dawn Group ● Their organization became Workers’ and Peasants’ Communist Party in 1950s ● Yusuf Darwish’s (one of the three) work as legal counsel for many trade unions gave comrades an introduction to textile workers and others in northern Cairo

Communism’s Effect on Egypt ● Between three other Jews established rival communist organizations: People’s Liberation, Iskra, and Egyptian Movement for National Liberation ● Rebellion against Henri Curiel (EMNL, who had unorthodox political style and views on Zionism) in 1948 expressed desire of young Muslim and Coptic intellectuals to Egyptianize movement and tensions over Zionism that affected every Arab communist party

Communism’s Effect on Egypt ● Communist Party of Egypt established 1949 in opposition to existing communist organizations and it excluded Jews from membership ● Basis of future Communist Party of Sudan formed 1946 by Sudanese in Cairo under Curiel ● 1950s and 60s party established strong base among intellectuals, railway workers, and farmers--sectors of society that were already rapidly developing ● Unlike in several others countries, foreigners and minorities were insignificant, so it’s national character was undoubted ● Despite this, party was banned in 1965