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Socialism can be defined as an economy wherein all the resources and the means of production of the economy are owned by the community as a whole and there is an equitable distribution of the goods and the wealth. According to Socialism, people of the economy do not live or work in isolation, but they live as a whole in cooperation. In a Socialist form of system, the goods and services are provided through a central system of government ownership and not private ownership. Everything that is being produced by the people in a Socialist system is a social product and, hence, every individual who contributes in the production of goods is entitled to a share of it. Therefore, based on how much a person has contributed in the society, everyone receives …show more content…
It can be referred to as a response to the dreadful working conditions and dire poverty in the industrialized parts of Europe in the early 19th century. Although, Socialism has existed in various forms from the beginning of the times; for instance, Plato in his Republic, depicted a society wherein every individual shared all his goods with others, including his spouse and children. A simple form of Socialism can also be seen in the early Christian communities where labour and goods were shared by all. Hence, it can be said that Socialism as an ideology came into being much later and the basic concept of Socialism had always been a part of the world. Socialism is said to be developed in opposition to capitalism and abuses to liberal individualism during the 18th and 19th centuries. The term ‘socialists’ was coined only in 1830 to describe the radical critics of industrial capitalism, and, some of these radicals acquired the title of ‘Utopian Socialists’. Utopian Socialism, usually referred to as Early Socialism, came into being even before Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’s Communist Manefesto (1848) which later became the defining vision of Socialist thought. Utopian Socialists earlier attempted to transform capitalism into a more egalitarian system so as to bring about proper and collective well being; they held other values to be more …show more content…
Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik or the “majority” faction of the ‘Russian Social Democratic Party’. Lenin had played a major role in the establishment of the USSR. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) came into being after the Socialist Revolution in Russia in 1917, which was led by Lenin. The revolution was inspired by the ideals of Socialism, as opposed to Capitalism, and the need for an egalitarian society. This revolution was one of the biggest attempts in human history to remove the institution of Private Property, led by the Provisional Government, and establish a society based on the principles of equality. In doing so, the makers of the Soviet Union gave importance to the state and the institution of the party. The Soviet political system centered on the Communist party, and no other political party or opposition was allowed. The economy was planned and controlled by the state. This group of countries, including the East European countries that the Soviet armies had liberated from the fascist forces and came under the USSR, was called the ‘Socialist Block’. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union became a great power; it had complex communication networks, vast energy resources, and an efficient transportation system. The Soviet Economy was then more developed than that
During the 19th century, Russia was experiencing a series of changes with its entire nation and society overall. The government was trying to adapt themselves to them at the same time. It was not an easy time period for Russia whatsoever. Vladimir Lenin helped change this.
In 1905 , Russia had a prerevolution that was put down of the Czar. Instead of learning from this prerevolution, Czar Nicholas II, made a very big mistake by in not introducing some reforms to correct the problems. So because of his actions, the situation grew worse. In 1917, the Russians were fighting in World War I. A good majority of the Russian people were weary and uncontent with the way the war was going and with the Czar's rule. This uncontent along with economic hardships caused riots and demonstrations to break out. The Czar called for the army to put down the revolution as they did in 1905. But the army joined the revolt and the Czar was kicked out of power soon afterwards. A temporary government was set up to decide on what kind of government Russia was gonna set up. Two political parties were set up. The Bolsheviks were one of the two. The leader of the Bolshevik party was a man named Lenin. Lenin was a firm believer of the theories and ideas of Karl Marx. So with his slogan of "Bread, Peace and Land", Lenin gained the support of the peasants and gained control of Russia and setup a communist state.
Stalin continued even once he was successful in accomplishing those goals, as he did not stop hurting people, but if anything it gave him more power to hurt people even more. But, at the end of the day, although Lenin ruled for only a very short time, he did raise the standard of living, though there maintained a large amount of hardship. Stalin, however, transformed the USSR from a peasantry to an industrialized nation in less than a decade, he did it on the backs of his millions of victims, who died because of his harsh policies and many purges. Lenin made a series of policies throughout the beginning of the Revolution and through his short time in public office that came to be collectively known as ‘Leninism’. There were many things that influenced Leninism, such as Karl Marx.
Communism is an economic system where, in theory, ownership of everything (e.g. goods, industrial products, businesses, farm produce, etc.) is collectively by the Government and the payment of income is only based one’s need. In communism, individuals have little say or on say at all on what to produce, not even owning anything since ownership is only by the Government. Communism is a socio-economic structure based on classless, stateless society where the means of production are on common ownership. Therefore, communism is the idea of free society where there is no divisions, humanity is not oppressed, no need for Government or countries. A citizen earns according to their needs and gives according to their abilities to do so.
Equal work, equal wages, equal food, equal opportunities, equal power. On the outside, a society where every one of its citizens was completely equal sounds and appears like a good thing, even a great thing. No one had too much power, everyone seemed to be happy, and most importantly everyone worked to better the community instead of themselves. This is what Socialism was portrayed as: a system in which everyone worked together to benefit the state. Contradicting this fabricated image, life under Socialism did not succeed in equality for men and women, and it caused people to do whatever necessary in order to gain some sense of individualism. While equality for all people in all aspects of life sounds appealing, it was an unachievable goal
The Industrial Revolution in Western Europe provided the context for economists and political writers of the 19th century to promote three different economic plans designed to meet the needs of workers and entrepreneurs. State-sponsored socialism was first proposed by Eduard Bernstein as a reform plan for the existing economic system of capitalism. The major tenet of state-sponsored socialism included government-sponsored legislation to regulate business over time. Although there were many advantages including improving the standard of living and national unity; however, there were also disadvantages because socialism didn’t eliminate poverty nor the social evils inherent in a market-based economy. The economic system of socialism was implemented in Germany during the 19th century through legislation. In some ways, socialism was successful because it lowered the number of unemployed people and it provided healthcare for its poorest citizens. In other ways, socialism was unsuccessful because it was not consistent with the fundamental characteristics of human greed. Although it failed to operate under a consistent competitive profit, the economic system of socialism did address the needs of both entrepreneurs and workers because the middle class grew.
The accumulation of these factors centred on Lenin's leadership helped stamp Bolshevik power across the Soviet Union. Lenin’s pragmatic leadership was the most considerable factor in helping to fortify Bolshevik power. His willingness to take power in October/November 1917 and the successes of the move, through his right-hand man, Trotsky, was critical as it helped give him unquestioned authority within the party despite members of the Central Committee i.e. Zinoviev and Kamenev suggested industrialisation needed to occur first. This highlighted Lenin’s communist ideology, which was essential to the Bolsheviks maintaining power. Following the failure of the Provisional Government, Lenin recognised that it was the Bolshevik’s priority to legitimise their government.
The theory of democratic socialism is to provide a society in which the needs of all people, not just the wealthy, are met. It also involves the sharing of wealth among the society as a whole. Democratic socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization that basically states that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community, not just a few people. In layman’s terms, it is common ownership. Every citizen under socialism is considered truly equal, every citizen has a voice in the government, and everyone's rights are equally important.
Joseph Stalin became leader of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924. Lenin had a government of abstemious communist government. When Stalin came into government he moved to a radical communist society. He moved away from the somewhat capitalist/communist economy of Lenin time to “modernize” the USSR. He wanted to industrialize and modernize USSR. He had overworked his workers, his people were dying, and most of them in slave labor camps. In fact by doing this Stalin had hindered the USSR and put them even farther back in time.
One of Lenin's ideas was 'International Socialism,' it was under this idea that he set up the Comintern with the purpose of spreading communism throughout the world. His successor, Josef Stalin, took a different approach in his ideas of 'Socialism in one country." Josef Stalin led the U.S.S.R. from the death of Lenin to his own in 1953. Stalin led the Soviets through the betrayal of the Germans in the Nazi-Soviet Pact, he turned back the Nazis on the Eastern front, and brought the U.S.S.R. out of the Second World War as one of the only two superpowers in the world. After the end of the World War Two Stalin spread the Soviet sphere of influence to include East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.
Over the next few years, Russia went through a traumatic time of civil war and turmoil. The Bolsheviks’ Red Army fought the white army of farmers, etc. against Lenin and his ways. Lenin and the Bolsheviks won and began to wean Russia of non-conforming parties eventually banning all non-communist as well as removing an assembly elected shortly after the Bolshevik’s gain of power. Lenin’s strict government, however, was about to get a lot stricter with his death in 1924.
Born from the revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe, Marxism sought to end the class struggles that were destroying the continent. The solution to the problems of all nations occurred to Marx to be Socialism, a branch that is presently known as Marxism. Under this seemingly “utopian” socioeconomic system, equality was granted to all citizens who were in essence a community of one. “. . . universal free education; arming of the people; a progressive income tax; limitations upon inheritance; state ownership of banks. . .”(Palmer 506). These rights of which constituted Marxism eventually went on to be incorporated in Leninism and modern-day socialism. At least in its beginning, the intent of Marxism and the Communist League were noble towards the goal o...
Lenin’s reforms were necessary to carry out a socialist revolution in Russia, and the contributions he made drastically changed the course of history. It can be assumed that, the Soviet Union would not have been as powerful if it had not been for Lenin’s initial advocacy of violence and tight organization. Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire.
Socialism is a social and economic system where the means of productions are shared indivisibly throughout the community or enterprise rather than in the names of a few individuals. Or more simply put Socialists believe that the Chief Executives of a corporation are not the ones who deserve the big pay check. They believe that the working men and women deserve more money because they are they ones out in the field doing the work. The main goal of socialism is to more evenly distribute the wealth. They care more about having more people living comfortably than just a few individuals getting wealthy. Socialist ideas in todays politics are what they believe will make it easier for Americans to live in America.
...uctive country. Without a high volume of productivity, consumption and private savings are subsequently capped off by the government. No one is rich, and everyone is relatively poor based on the drive of the government, rather than the individual. As a result, Socialism helps indirectly promote a sense of social lethargicism that destroys personal drive for success. This leads to individuals not pushing themselves for the utmost capital and technological knowledge because personal qualifications and merit cannot be traced to success because is equally spread about the population regardless of qualifications. Therefore, in the minds of most common American citizens, Socialism has carved role into society as the lazy way out of life. Socialism - no push for motivation with low levels of productivity and spending- is complete opposite of the idealized American life.