Socialism: Socialism is political philosophy considered by public ownership and centralized planning of all major industries which include manufacturing, services, and energy, banks and insurance companies, agribusiness, transportation, the media, and medical facilities. In capitalism, these huge enterprises control the economy but are privately owned and operated to create wealth for their owners by extracting it from working people who are paid only a small fraction of what their labour produces. Socialism turns this around so that the class that produces the wealth can jointly decide how it will be used for the benefit of all. Real socialism is characterized as democratic. It is economic as well as political democracy. Many capitalist countries claim of their democratic institutions, but this is a deception because all the political power is in control of officers who hold the wealth. Socialism prioritizes human needs and eliminates the profit motive that drives war, ecological destruction, and inequalities based on gender, race, nationality and sexuality. Simply, socialism is social ownership of means of production, impartiality of income and opportunities for all members. Under social and political system, Socialism depends altogether upon the history of mankind for a record of its growth in the past, and bases its future upon knowledge of that history in so far as it can be accurately traced up to the present time. The basis of the whole theory is that since ancient period of their existence, human beings have been channelled by the power they possessed over the forces of nature to supply the wants arising as individual members of any society. Thus, Socialism depends upon political economy in its broadest sense. It is dependent upon the manner in which wealth is produced and distributed by those who form part of society at a given time.
Socialism initiated in the late 18th-century from an knowledgeable and working class political movement that disapproved the effects of industrialization and private ownership on civilisation
Theoretical framework of socialism:Vast literature is available to describe nature of socialism as a political philosophy. Theorist D. Dickinson stated that “Socialism is an economic organisation of society in which the material means of production are owned by the whole community and operated by organs representative of and responsible to the community according to a general economic plan, all members of the community being entitled to benefit from the results of such socialized planned production on the basis of equal rights.” According to Loucks, “Socialism refers to that movement which aims to vest in society as a whole, rather than in individuals, the ownership and management of all nature-made and man-made producers goods used in large-scale production, to the end that an increased national income may be more equally distributed without materially destroying the individuals economic motivation or his freedom of occupation.”
Other experts like Pigou explained the term socialism as “A socialised industry is one in which the material instruments of production are owned by a public authority or voluntary association, and operated not with a view to profit by sale to other people, but for the direct service of those whom the authority or association represents. A socialised system is one the main part of whose resources are engaged in socialised industries,” Paul M. Sweezy asserted that “In its primary meaning is a complete social system which differs from capitalism not only in the absence of private ownership of the means of production but also in its basic structure and mode of functioning.” Schaffle also elaborated principles of socialism and stated that, “The alfa and omega of socialism is the transformation of private competing capital into a united collective capital.” G.D.H. Cole perceived that “Socialism means four closely connected things of a human fellowship which denies and expels distinction of class, a social system in which no one is so much richer or poorer than his neighbours as to be unable to mix with them on equal term, the common ownership and use of all the vital instruments of production and an obligation on all citizens to serve one another according to their capacities in promoting the common wellbeing.”
Similar to capitalism, socialism must be worldwide so that global resources can be shared. To attain the objectives of socialism, it is necessary to any country being able to determine its own intention.
Features of Socialism: The main features of this system are described as under.
1. Public Ownership: First prominent characteristic is socialist economy which is determined by public ownership of the means of production and distribution. There is shared ownership whereby all mines, farms, factories, financial institutions, distributing agencies, means of transport and communications, are owned, controlled, and regulated by government departments and state corporations. A small private sector also exists as small business units which are carried on in the villages by local artistes for local consumption.
2. Central Planning: Second feature of socialism is centrally planned which functions under the direction of a central planning authority. It develops various objectives and targets to be realized during the plan period. Central economic planning means the making of major economic decisions what and how much is to be produced, how, when and where it is to be produced, and to whom it is to be allocated by the mindful decision of a determinate authority, on the basis of a comprehensive survey of the economic system as a whole. The central planning authority organises and operates the financial resources by deliberate direction and control of the economy in order to accomplish certain objectives and targets laid down in the plan during a specified period of time.
3. Definite Objectives: Another characteristic of socialism is that a socialist economy operates within definite socio-economic objectives. These objectives may concern aggregate demand, full employment, and satisfaction of communal demand, allocation of factors of production, distribution of the national income, the amount of capital accumulation, economic development and so forth.
4. Freedom of Consumption: In socialism system, consumer’s dominance infers that production in state owned industries is generally governed by the likings of consumers, and the available merchandises are distributed to the customers at fixed prices through the state-run department stores. Consumer’s dominion under socialism is limited to the choice of socially beneficial commodities.
5. Equality of Income Distribution: In a socialist system, there is great impartiality of income distribution in comparison a free market economy. The removal of private ownership in the means of production, private capital accumulation, and profit motive under socialism avert the accrual of large wealth in the hands of a few wealthy persons. The unearned incomes in the form of rent, interest and profit go to the state which utilises them in providing free education, public health facilities, and social security to the masses.
6. Planning and the Pricing Process: Other feature of socialism is that the pricing process under socialism does not operate spontaneously but works under the control and regulation of the central planning authority. There are administered prices which are fixed by the central planning authority. There are also the market prices at which consumer goods are sold. There are also the accountings prices on the basis of which the managers decide about the production of consumer goods and investment goods, and also about the choice of production methods. Theoretical studies have documented that socialism aims at establishing a classless society, free from exploitation. It presupposes public ownership of means of production (Laybourn, 1988). Majority of socialists recognise their philosophy of socialism as Marxists in acknowledgement of Karl Marx, who revealed the economic laws of capitalism. Marx and his co-worker Frederick Engels evolved the foundation of Marxist economics, the philosophical thought of dialectical materialism, and the method of social analysis known as historical materialism. Leninism signifies the concepts of a disciplined, radical party and the principled, intransigent vision of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, key leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution. Lenin’s contribution on imperialism, the nature of the state, and the rights of national minorities are vital components of the socialist practice. Another form of socialism, Socialist feminism was developed in the decades of late 1960s and early 1970s by originators of the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. It is a Marxist, Leninist, and Trotskyist tendency. These philosophers recognised that the most oppressed sector of the current working class is composed of women, particularly women of colour, whose life experience of exploitation gives them the strength and determination to carry through a revolution against all forms of oppression. Socialist feminists identified the activist leadership of working-class women, people of colour, and queers, and others multiply plagued by capitalism. Socialist feminists orient to common, rank-and-file women and men instead of the predominantly white male aristocrats of labour who make up the union bureaucracy.
Types of Socialism: There are many types of socialism.
Democratic Socialism promotes the principles of Socialism as an economic principle which signifies that the means of production should be in the hands of ordinary working people and equality as a governing principle. It attempts to bring about Socialism through nonviolent democratic means as opposed to violent insurgence, and represents the improver practice of Socialism. Democratic Socialism infers a philosophy that is more left-wing and supportive of a fully socialist system, established either by progressively reforming Capitalism from within, or by some form of revolutionary transformation.
Marxian socialism: In theoretical framework of Marxism, socialism denotes to a particular historical phase of financial development and its corresponding set of social relations that ultimately overtake capitalism in the plan of historical materialism. From this perspective, socialism is described as a mode of production where the principle for production is use-value, where production for use is coordinated through conscious economic planning and the law of value no longer directs economic activity. The Marxian idea of socialism was against other early forms of socialism, most remarkably early forms of market socialism based on classical economics including Mutualism and Ricardian socialism, which is dissimilar to the Marxian conception, retained commodity exchange and markets for labour and the means of production. The Marxian conception also contradicted Utopian socialism.
Another type of socialism is revolutionary Socialism which supports the need for essential social change through revolution or revolution instead of gradual reform as a strategy to attain a socialist society. Trotskyism is the continuance of the Marxist and Leninist. When the Stalinist bureaucracy rose to power in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s, Trotsky rallied an international Left Opposition against the unfaithfulness of the revolution’s goals. Trotskyism means Permanent Revolution, internationalism, and the strategy of the united front against fascism. . Luxemburgism is another Revolutionary Socialist custom, based on the works of Rosa Luxemburg (1970 – 1919). It is analogous to Trotskyism in its opposition to the Totalitarianism of Stalin, while simultaneously avoiding the reformist politics of modern Social Egalitarianism.
Utopian Socialism describes the first streams of modern socialist thought in the first quarter of the 19th Century. Usually, it was used by later socialist thinkers to define early socialist, or quasi-socialist, intellectuals who created hypothetical visions of perfect egalitarian and communalist societies without actually concerning themselves with the manner in which these societies could be created or sustained. They disallowed all political and especially all revolutionary action, and wished to achieve their ends by nonviolent means and small experiments, which was observed by famous socialist, Karl Marx as necessarily doomed to failure.
The objective of Libertarian Socialism is to develop a society without political, economic or social hierarchies, in which every person would have free, equal access to tools of information and production. This would be accomplished through the eradication of authoritarian institutions and private property, so that direct control of the means of production and resources is gained by the working class and society as a whole. Most Libertarian Socialists supports abolishing the state altogether, in much the same way as Utopian Socialists and Anarchism.
Market Socialism is a type of an economic system in which there is a market economy directed and guided by socialist developers, and where prices would be set through trial and error rather than relying on a free price tool.
Eco-Socialism is philosophies combine aspects of Marxism, Socialism, Green politics, ecology and the anti-globalization movement. They promote the non-violent dismantling of Capitalism and the State, focusing on collective ownership of the means of production, in order to alleviate the social barring, poverty and environmental deprivation brought about by the capitalist system, globalization and colonialism.
Christian socialism: It is a form of religious socialism which is based on the traditions of Jesus of Nazareth. Many Christian socialists consider capitalism to be idolatrous and rooted in greed, which some Christian denominations consider a worldly evil. Christian socialists recognise the cause of unfairness to be associated with the greed that they associate with capitalism.
Guild Socialism: This type of socialism was basically an English movement that fascinated a modest during the first two decades of the 20th century. An association of craftsmen motivated by the medieval guild, determined their own working conditions and activities. Theorists, Samuel G. Hobson and G.D.H. Cole supported the public ownership of industries and their organization into guilds, each of which would be under the autonomous control of its trade union. The role of the state was less clear. Some guild socialists envisioned it as a coordinator of the guilds’ activities, while other theorists held that its functions should be restricted to protection or policing. In general, however, the guild socialists were less inclined to invest power in the state than were their Fabian compatriots.
Fabian socialism: In this form of socialism, the Society adopted the name Fabian as a representation of a plan formulated to infiltrate civic and social units and to find means to spread contemporary social ideas, concentrating on concrete objectives rather than on principles (Fabianism In The Political Life of Britain, p. 4). The Fabians did not constitute themselves as a political party as such but developed the technique of “socialistic ‘permeation’ of existing political institutions” (Fabian Society,” Columbia Encyclopedia, 2nd Ed.). According to theorists, The Fabians were more realistic as compared to the Marxian socialists. They understood that it is much easier to overthrow sons, daughters and wives of the prominent and well-to-do than it is to impress the labouring classes. They also understood, that socialist movement’s spring from the middle and upper classes and not from the proletariat (Sidney Webb, 1989). A major belief of Fabianism is to collect a Brain Trust as an elite class to plan and direct all of society. Shaw designated briefly that “The Fabian Society succeeded because it addressed itself to its own class in order that it might set about doing the necessary brain work of planning socialist organization for all classes, meanwhile accepting, instead of trying to supersede, the existing political organizations which it intended to permeate with the Socialist conception of human society” (Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism, p. 186).
Merits of Socialism: Socialism has many benefits for society. Prof. Schumpeter was supported of this thought and gave four arguments to promote socialism that include greater economic efficiency, welfare due to less inequality, absence of monopolistic practices and absence of business fluctuations.
1. Greater Economic Efficiency: It has been established through theoretical studies that Economic competence under socialism system is better as compared to capitalism system. The means of production are controlled and regulated by the central planning authority towards chosen ends. The central planning authority makes comprehensive survey of resources and utilises them in the most efficient manner. Increased productivity is secured by avoiding the wastes of competition and by undertaking expensive research and production processes in a coordinated manner. Economic efficiency is also realized by utilising resources in producing socially useful goods and services which satisfy the basic wants of the people such as cheap food, cloth, and housing.
2. Greater Welfare due to Less Inequality of Income: In a socialist economy, it is observed that there is less disparity of income as compared with a capitalist economy because of the absence of private ownership of the means of production, private capital accumulation, and private profit. All inhabitants work for the wellbeing of the state and each is compensated his payment according to his capability, education and training. All rents, interests and profits from various sources go to the state which spends them for public welfare in providing free education, cheap and congenial housing, free public health amenities, and social security to the people.
3. Absence of Monopolistic Practices: Main benefit of socialism is that it is free from monopolistic practices which are to be found in a capitalist society. Since under socialism, all means of production are owned by the state, both competition and monopoly are eradicated. The misuse by the monopolistic is absent. Instead of private monopoly, there is the state monopoly of the productive system but this is operated for the welfare of the people. In the state-owned factories, socially useful commodities are produced which are of high quality and are also reasonably priced.
4. Absence of Business Fluctuations: A socialist system is free from business variations. There is economic constancy because production and consumption of goods and services are controlled by the central planning authority according to the objectives, targets and priorities of the plan. Thus there is neither overproduction nor joblessness.
Demerits of Socialism: A socialist economy has several drawbacks:
1. Loss of Consumers’ Dominance: Researchers have observed that there is loss of consumer’s dominion in a socialist approach. Consumers do not have the liberty to buy whatever commodities they want. They can consume only those commodities which are available in department stores. Often the quantities which they can buy are fixed by the state.
2. No Freedom of Occupation: It is also found that people do not have liberty of occupation in such a society. Every person is provided job by the state. But he cannot leave or change it. Even the place of work is allotted by the state. All occupational movements are sanctioned by the state.
3. Malallocation of Resources: In socialist, there is random allocation of resources. The central planning authority often commits mistakes in resource allocation because the entire work is done on trial and error basis.
4. Bureaucratic: A socialist economy is considered as rigid economy. It is operated like a machine. Therefore, it does not provide the necessary initiative to the people to work hard. People work due to the fear of higher authorities and not for any personal gain or self-interest.
In current circumstances, socialism has become the most popular, economic philosophy. During the decades succeeding the Second World War, the worldwide progression of socialism has been quite theatrical and unparalleled. Socialism is a standard of expediency which accommodates politicians of all hues. It incorporates all types of political system, detectorships, democracies, republics and monarchies. It holds such dissimilar systems as an Islamic socialism practiced by Libya and Algeria, democratic socialism of Norway or Sweden, the Baathist Socialism of Syria and Iraq, the ‘Ujamaa’ socialism of Tanzania. It is observed that various nations around the world have adopted socialist philosophy in the light of their peculiar conditions. Sometimes even within a country, different political parties interpreted the socialist philosophies to fit into their own political viewpoint. Socialist ideas have considerably influenced the formulation of the means and objectives of Indian economic policies. This has happened in different ways such as through the impact of external, socialist ideologies on the economic and political notions held by Blite groups influencing policy-making in India.
To summarize, Socialism is a thought that individuals should not have ownership of land, capital, or industry, but rather the whole community jointly owns and controls property, goods, and production. Preferably, in this system all share correspondingly in work and the results of their labour. After thorough appraisal of principles of socialism, it is established that Socialism is a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the workforces, either directly through popular collectives or indirectly exercised on behalf of the people by the state, and in which Classlessness is an important objective.