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I thought workers owning the means of production was communism, whereas socialism has come to mean the distribution of value to society through highly general p

I thought workers owning the means of production was communism, whereas socialism has come to mean the distribution of value to society through highly general programs.

rriepe 7y ago
Socialism: You give your paycheck to the government. Communism: The government gives your paycheck to you.
- ivalm 7y ago
  No, Communism: there is no governemnt, we're a workers' utopia now.
crimsonalucard 7y ago
No. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Socialism https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Socialism The mistake comes from the misconception that Scandinavia is Socialist. It is not: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nordic_model https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nordic_model The nordic model is a welfare state with multi-level collective bargaining (think unions and corporations everywhere). Though the term welfare state sounds really really bad, they are actually doing really really well.
throwaway744678 7y ago
This is the current meaning of the word. But let's not forget where it comes from. Historically communists saw themselves as the true socialists (eg. USSR)
merpnderp 7y ago
Socialism has a real definition which means the people owning the means of production. Just because people confuse it with a welfare state doesn’t change the myriads of literature discussing this philosophy. Just shows the continued failures of our public schools to teach even basic concepts.
Throw_Away_8563 7y ago
No. Communism is a stateless and classless society, that, in Marxism, is the next step after the "dictatorship of the proletariat", or the ideology that wants to achieve this state. Socialism is the public ownership of the means of production. Communism is a form of socialism.
captainbland 7y ago
My understanding is as such: Communism (the ideal): a classless, moneyless society where all states around the world have withered away and people are free to organise themselves outside the tyranny of the state or private property owners Communist Party: Authoritarians who like to use the above as a carrot and seem to like to create one-party states who never wither away. They claim to represent workers but tend to stick their own representatives anywhere that has any economic significance. Leftist critics of such societies often characterise this as "state capitalism" where the state is effectively one gigantic, brutal monopoly. In Lenin's words "He who does not work, neither shall he eat." Socialism (marxist): Workers own the means of production as a vital step towards communism Bourgeois socialism: A pejorative for what we call social democracy or democratic socialism Social democracy: The distribution of value to society through highly general programs, as you put it, within a liberal, capitalist society. Democratic socialism: Social ownership (i.e. co-ops, municipal ownership, some nationalisation) of the "means of production", usually still within a market and otherwise retaining liberal democracy and usually also aiming to implement social democratic policies, too. Also interesting: Ricardian socialism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardian_socialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardian_socialism

I thought workers owning the means of production was communism, whereas socialism has come to mean the distribution of value to society through highly general programs.

rriepe 7y ago

Socialism: You give your paycheck to the government. Communism: The government gives your paycheck to you.

ivalm 7y ago
No, Communism: there is no governemnt, we're a workers' utopia now.

crimsonalucard 7y ago

No. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Socialism https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Socialism The mistake comes from the misconception that Scandinavia is Socialist. It is not: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nordic_model https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nordic_model The nordic model is a welfare state with multi-level collective bargaining (think unions and corporations everywhere). Though the term welfare state sounds really really bad, they are actually doing really really well.

throwaway744678 7y ago

This is the current meaning of the word. But let's not forget where it comes from. Historically communists saw themselves as the true socialists (eg. USSR)

merpnderp 7y ago

Socialism has a real definition which means the people owning the means of production. Just because people confuse it with a welfare state doesn’t change the myriads of literature discussing this philosophy. Just shows the continued failures of our public schools to teach even basic concepts.

Throw_Away_8563 7y ago

No. Communism is a stateless and classless society, that, in Marxism, is the next step after the "dictatorship of the proletariat", or the ideology that wants to achieve this state. Socialism is the public ownership of the means of production. Communism is a form of socialism.

captainbland 7y ago

My understanding is as such: Communism (the ideal): a classless, moneyless society where all states around the world have withered away and people are free to organise themselves outside the tyranny of the state or private property owners Communist Party: Authoritarians who like to use the above as a carrot and seem to like to create one-party states who never wither away. They claim to represent workers but tend to stick their own representatives anywhere that has any economic significance. Leftist critics of such societies often characterise this as "state capitalism" where the state is effectively one gigantic, brutal monopoly. In Lenin's words "He who does not work, neither shall he eat." Socialism (marxist): Workers own the means of production as a vital step towards communism Bourgeois socialism: A pejorative for what we call social democracy or democratic socialism Social democracy: The distribution of value to society through highly general programs, as you put it, within a liberal, capitalist society. Democratic socialism: Social ownership (i.e. co-ops, municipal ownership, some nationalisation) of the "means of production", usually still within a market and otherwise retaining liberal democracy and usually also aiming to implement social democratic policies, too. Also interesting: Ricardian socialism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardian_socialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardian_socialism