+ Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism

+ Capitalism An economic system in which all or most of the means of production are privately owned Investment of capital and the production, distribution, and prices of commodities (goods and services) are determined mainly in a free market rather than by the state Means of production are (generally) operated for profit.

+ Socialism State ownership of common property, or state ownership of the means of production. In a purely socialist state, the state owns and operates the means of production. Nearly ALL modern capitalist countries combine socialism and capitalism. Rutgers is a socialist institution: owned and operated by New Jersey. Highways, state parks, harbors, etc. are all socialist – owned and operated by the state – though they facilitate capitalism.

+ Socialism As capitalism emerged in opposition to feudalism, socialism developed in reaction to capitalism Combination of passionate concern for social justice and proposals for economic reform (though the type is not agreed upon by all socialists) Key themes Dignity of work Value of workers’ cooperation First half of the 19 th century Some ambivalent toward industrialism Others seek to harness industrialism to welfare of impoverished masses Disagree central planning

+ Diversity in Socialism Saint-Simon ( ) : technocratically planned and controlled industrial society Robert Owen ( ): self-governing workers’ co- operatives Francois Marie Charles Fourier ( ): local communities (phalansteres) based on diverse and freely chosen forms of work English Fabian Society (founded 1883)

+ Marx and Engel’s Effect on Socialism Critique of capitalism by Marx and Engels provided resources to socialism Marxism provided emerging socialist parties of Western Europe with a general philosophy and a final goal in the shape of the common ownership of all means of production and distribution The goal could incorporate various socialist beliefs in workers’ co-operation and self-management without specifying clearly how a socialist society would actually operate.

+ Socialism in Action The First Internationale or International Workingman’s Association ( ) Destroyed by conflicts between Marxists and Anarchists (especially prevalent in repressive quasi-feudal societies such as Russia and Spain) The Second Internationale ( ) Both tried to incorporate Western labor movements into an international organization based upon Marxist philosophy and the common interests of workers around the world. Success in France and Germany Up until 1914, emerging ideas of democratic socialism could be reconciled with and partly based on Marxist ideology

+ World War I and Russian Revolution Transformed socialism Split the communist and democratic forms of socialism Bolshevik Revolution  product of a disciplined elite not a mass proletarian movement occurring in an economically backward/quasi feudal country Doubtful relation to Marx’s theories or speculations Russian revolution showed that Marx had some flaws Marx viewed government as coercion by a dominant economic class and not as a separate or independent source or power Stalin showed how overwhelmingly tyrannical a complete union of political and economic power could be

+ Communism A community ownership of property with the end being COMPLEGE social equality via economic equality. Communism is an idealized utopian economic and social state that the country as a whole is working towards. The People’s Republic of China aspired to this form of communism in the time of Mao. Mao justified authoritarianism and repression if they facilitated the establishment of communism.

+ Marx and the Labor Theory of Value Marx believes that each individual owns his or her own labor (the labor theory of value) No man can – or should – own another man’s body or his labor Profit belongs to the laborer not the capitalist who controls the means of production (e.g. factory owner) Profit that is not shared with the laborer is inherently exploitive. Communism claims to transfer the ownership of the means of production to the state so that the profits of labor can be shared with the laborer