Almost everyone has heard the myths and misconceptions about socialism. You’ve probably heard them all: socialism is an anti-democratic, authoritarian dictatorship where everyone is forced to conform, everyone is told where to work and live (or be sent to a work camp), and everyone has the same amount of money and possessions.
In truth, socialism is an alternative political and economic system to capitalism, which we have here in the U.S. Capitalism has made the increasing wealth of the world possible, but at great cost. Throughout the years, socialists have recognized this contradiction and have worked to build a system that is more humane and egalitarian. Socialism, like capitalism, has evolved and changed over the last century and a half, as revolutionaries developed theories and experimented with new social structures. Socialists today recognize that most of the revolutionary models of the twentieth century ultimately failed, and that something better and more liberatory must take their place.
Like all political and economic systems (including capitalism), socialism for the 21st century has goals and values.
- Socialism guarantees everyone a decent life with food, shelter, health care, and education.
- Socialism will work to eradicate poverty and great disparities of wealth.
- Socialism works to uproot racism, sexism, and homophobia. It aims to dismantle the hierarchies of gender and race.
- Socialism focuses on the common good as the way for individuals to excel and explore their talents and desires.
- Socialism puts working people—the working class—in charge of their destiny through workers’ ownership and active participation and management of production, land, public services, assets, and utilities.
- Socialism works to end the brutal cycle of policing and mass incarceration, and seeks to build a justice system that values human life and community empowerment.
- Socialism puts the global ecological system at the center of all economic activity.
- Socialism is about expanding individual rights (including the freedom to criticize), deepening and widening democracy and democratic institutions (like government, schools, unions, community groups), and ensuring dignity.
To build this socialist vision, we need systems and strategies that will work in today’s world. This won’t come easy. It will require the active participation of millions to uproot structures and ideas that demean human dignity and equality and threaten the diversity of the planet. It will require everyone to fix mistakes made along the way. But all movements towards progress started small and local and built to be large and inclusive (think of the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa or the Civil Rights struggle in the U.S.) Our struggle will be the same.
Many people are unclear about the difference between socialism and communism. They’re often used interchangeably, and the meaning can get confusing. Basically, socialism is a step on the way to communism, although a long and complicated step! Socialism is continuous revolutionary transformation on the way to a classless society. Even when socialism–popular ownership and control of all of society–is established, many seek to roll back the tide and re-establish capitalism, with themselves in power. Socialism requires the people’s continuous political action to successfully transition society to communism.
Communism is the end of social classes and of the state that rules over us. Communism is the point where socialism is so deeply established that there are no longer rulers and ruled. People manage their lives together, build their communities, and produce cooperatively for everyone as if it were second nature. There are no longer exploiters trying to gather wealth and power for themselves. There are only human beings.
If that sounds far-fetched, daunting, or even frightening, think of this. Before nations rebelled against monarchy, many cast doubt on humanity’s ability to participate in democracies. When we examine history, we see how those in power have consistently argued that society could never function without kings, or slaves, or segregation, or male rule. Indeed, at the time, progressive changes seemed overwhelming, terrifying and impossible, sometimes even to those who were fighting for them. Imagine the defense for Divine Right of Kings way back when: “Nobody can get used to participating in democracy as if it were second nature!” But people learned, as individuals, and as cultures and nations, to participate in democracies, even though they are reserved for those who are rich (some socialists would call it “bourgeois democracy”). We want more than this problematic form of democracy; we want socialism and ultimately, communism. Join us as we move forward together.
This post is also available in: Spanish
