Socialist system: concept, basic ideas, pros and cons of socialism

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Every Russian at least once in his life faced with the concept of socialism. At least in textbooks on the history of Russia. In the section devoted to the 20th century, a red background flashes from time to time, a coat of arms with a crossed hammer and sickle, and the abbreviation of the USSR is spelled out on every page. That period of Russian history, from 1921 to 1991, was the time when a socialist system was being built under the slogan of the doctrine of socialism. However, such socialist sentiments hovered in certain parts of the world long before the Bolsheviks and Communists appeared on Russian soil. Thousands of years before Marx and Engels, philosophers expressed ideas with a socialist spirit.

What is the doctrine of socialism?

Any system is built on some theoretical basis, adheres to at least some doctrines. For the system indicated in the title of the article, the doctrine of socialism is extremely important and fundamental. What is it and what is socialism as such? It is a system, an order, the main idea of which is to ensureeconomic and social equality among people. He opposes capitalism and its associated practices of exploitation of workers by entrepreneurs, the power of money and greed.

Some positions of socialism make it related to liberalism, but there is one key difference between them: liberalism relies on the individual, stands for individualism and the good for each individual, while socialism expresses the interests of the collective, in which there is no place for the expression of will individuals.

Socialism and the socialist system are, in fact, synonymous concepts, the second is only a derivative of the first. It denotes a state-wide social order, the hallmark of which is the power in the hands of society over income and its distribution.

A characteristic feature is also the complete absence of private property - public property acts as a replacement for it. The construction of this system is possible only if a successful socialist revolution is carried out and all power is transferred into the hands of the proletariat - ordinary workers who are forced to sell their labor for a pittance.

The first socialist states

No matter how paradoxical it may sound, but they were the first states that originated on Earth. Of course, it cannot be said that socialism was fully built on their territory, but principles similar to it could indeed be observed. So, for example, in Mesopotamia, a state that appeared as much as six thousand years ago, already in the secondmillennium BC, industrial relations, as well as between the state and the people, were built in accordance with the socialist model.

Here it is important to note two principles characteristic of Mesopotamia of that period and socialism in general. This is, firstly, the obligation of labor for all citizens. Secondly, for the volume of labor provided, a person receives an equivalent volume of labor results. In other words, how much you have earned, so much you have received.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his work"

Both the first and second principles could be observed in Mesopotamia as early as the second millennium BC. Divided into groups, the rural population worked all year round and was transferred from place to place. There was also the principle of dividing the results of labor in accordance with the strength of the workers: from full to 1/6 strength.

In what countries could the socialist system, or rather, its beginnings, be observed? In addition to Mesopotamia, fragments of socialist doctrine can be seen in the Inca Empire, which lasted from the 11th to the 16th centuries. It was characterized by the absence of the concept of private property: a simple citizen often did not have personal savings and property at all. There was also no concept of money, and the level of development of trade relations was minimal. The entire rural population was also obliged to work, they were constantly supervised. Every inhabitant of the state, including officials, had the norms of luxury and we alth established by the state, for which they had no rightstep over.

History of the development of socialism

The socialist teachings enshrined in theory appeared in antiquity. More than two thousand years ago, the birth of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato led to the birth of Platonism, saturated with socialist ideas. In his works, in particular in the dialogue "The State", one can see how the philosopher imagines an ideal state. It has no private property, no class struggle. The state is run by philosophers, its guards protect it, and the breadwinners supply it: peasants, artisans. Power controls all spheres of society.

The principles of the socialist system in the future can be traced in the heretical currents of the Middle Ages: the Cathars, the Apostolic Brothers and others. First of all, they denied any form of property other than public property, as well as marriage unions. Propagating the ideas of free love, various heretical movements advocated not only the community of property, but also partners. Later, during the Reformation, many philosophical works broadcast the idea of common property, as well as the obligation of labor.

The first attempt to implement the doctrine of socialism falls on the years of the Great French Revolution. In the French capital in 1796, the socialist system became the ideal of a secret society that was preparing a coup d'état. It built the concept of the new French state and society, which in many ways resembled the socialist one. Private property was still denied, the principlecompulsory labor. Priority was given to collective development, not individual development - personal life was controlled by the authorities.

Influence of Marx and Engels

The ideology of communism is traditionally associated with the names of the nineteenth-century German philosophers Marx and Engels. It is incorrect, however, to believe that this ideology was created by them - it existed in theory long before their birth. Their main merit lies in the fact that they managed to combine with each other the warring ideas of communism and socialism. Thanks to the works of Marx and Engels, the understanding came that communism, being the final stage in the development of production and social relations, presupposes the existence of the first stages of its development. The reason for this is that humanity is unable to cut off capitalism at the root and come to communism in one day.

The achievements of communism are a long and laborious process, the first stage of which is socialism. It should also be understood that socialism and communism in the understanding of Marx and Engels are one and the same, only the first is the first stage of the second. One of the important merits of these German philosophers was the fact that they were able to point to the driving force that is capable of building communism. In their understanding, the proletariat becomes this force.

Socialist system in Russia

The doctrine of socialism settled in the minds of the Russian intelligentsia already in the first half of the 19th century. The trends coming from the West interested the minds of enlightened Russians more and more. The ideas of utopian communists became popularMora, Campanella. In 1845, a circle of Petrashevists was created, which was almost immediately closed by the police for promoting socialism.

Alexander Herzen became the main theorist of Russian socialism in the middle of the 19th century. He was sure that it was Russia that would become the first country of the socialist system. This, according to his point of view, will be facilitated by such a specific social institution as the community. By that time he had disappeared in the West, still existed in Russia. Herzen considered life in the community to be monotonous, faded, which could simplify the process of equal distribution in the new socialist Russia.

Later, on the basis of Herzen's ideas, a powerful populism movement arose in the country, within which such organizations as "Land and Freedom", "Black Limit" and others were formed. They also pinned their hopes on the institution of the community. Already by the 80s of the 19th century, a separation of the Marxist wing took place in Russia, the RSDLP was born. There is a division of Marxists into two large groups: the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. The latter advocated a swift struggle on two fronts - against capitalism and autocracy. As a result, the country followed the path proposed by the Bolsheviks.

USSR and socialism

As Alexander Herzen supposed, Russia really became the first state in the world in which the doctrine of socialism was put into practice. And quite successfully - the state was really built in accordance with the provisions of socialism. He was, however, presented in hisoriginal form, which is also sometimes called deformed socialism. Despite this, urgent state tasks were successfully carried out, as a result of which the pace of industrial production was actively increasing.

Although the socialist system in the USSR was erected in a deformed form, it largely contradicted Marx's understanding of socialism. Firstly, that the Soviet Union was never able to provide public property - the means of production continued to belong to the state.

It also continued to play a decisive and key role for society, while true socialism involves the gradual withering away of the state. In the USSR, capitalist elements continued to exist - profit and the concept of value. Moreover, they eventually became the norm, despite the fact that, in the understanding of Marx, income, profit, value are categories that should become obsolete under socialism.

Criticism of socialism

As history shows, countries that once declared adherence to socialist ideas and ideals inevitably return to the mainstream of capitalism. There are a number of reasons for this, which critics of the socialist system unite under one word - utopia. They consider the goals and objectives put forward by the state within the framework of this system unattainable, and the very doctrine of socialism utopian.

As an argument for their position, critics cite the three pillars on which socialist theory rests and destroy them:

Public property. The key point inaccording to which this system must be built, is the need to move from private to public property. No country in the world has ever made the transition to this type of property, anyway, everything was in the hands of the state, or rather, in the hands of officials. In such conditions, wastefulness and bureaucracy that hinders progress are inevitable.
Planning. The main characteristic of a planned economy is the production of goods for production, which does not take into account the needs and desires of the individual. At the same time, there is inevitably a shortage of some necessary goods.
To each according to his work. This is another principle of socialism that cannot be put into practice. The reason for this is that in theory the concept of universal labor contrasts with the phenomenon of labor contribution, since the latter implies the contribution of each individual person. According to it, payment should be calculated, which contradicts the very essence of socialism and universal labor.

Socialist countries in the 21st century

Back in the 1980s, there were 15 clearly socialist countries on Earth, there were also about two dozen states that adhered to a socialist orientation. Gradually, socialist ideas and sentiments faded away, many countries began to switch to capitalist rails. Therefore, today the countries with a socialist system can be counted on the fingers of one hand, if we take the Marxist concept as a guideline.

This is North Korea and Cuba. The latter received financial and material support for a long time.from the USSR, but with its collapse, the country's economy sank heavily, which forced it to seek foreign investment, open the doors of the island for tourists.

Also, many consider China and Laos to be socialist states, which is a rather controversial statement. They say that the PRC is building socialism, only with its own special Chinese characteristics. Moreover, the communist parties are still in power, as in Laos. However, there is one important detail that does not allow one to classify either China or Laos as socialist countries. This is a fact of the predominance of private property in the economy, in the economy of these countries the means of production are in the hands of private owners.