Revolution or Reform

Question 1

How do Socialist agree over how Socialism will be implemented?

Answer 1

• State will play some form of role in the process of creating socialism.
• The working class will play an important part in the process of creating socialism.
• The extreme inequalities of wealth associated with the capitalist class system will be ended through a greater level of collectivism within the economy.
• A collectivist approach is used to eliminate the existing capitalist system, entailing widespread and popular participation through mass socialist organisations.

Question 2

What are the reasons to support revolution?

Answer 2

• Capitalist class never willingly relinquish control of the means of production. Always be resistance to such a move, armed force will be necessary to ensure this occurs.
• Police/armed forces are likely to act in opposition to socialism, and will need to be met with an armed response.
• The state is controlled by the ruling class – the ‘bourgeois state’. Never be controlled by a reformist party; would face a resistance from capitalists in any attempt to introduce socialism through the ballot box.
• Representative Democracy is a sham – ‘it is bourgeois democracy’. The state – judiciary, senior officials – will follow their own agenda/sabotage attempts to introduce socialism.
• Only through revolution. The state and the means of production will be seized, until the bourgeoisie had been suppressed, state will then wither away and communism implemented.
• Classical Marxists, working class achieve socialism through its own efforts. Capitalism creates an ever larger and poorer proletariat . Working-class achieves ‘class consciousness’ it can destroy capitalism and create a period of socialist equality.

Question 3

What are the reasons to support Reform?

Answer 3

• Revolutions are rare/may never occur. What should socialists do in the mean time?
• Revolutions are bloody/destructive. killing is immoral/illegal.
• Always followed by a counter-revolution/war, prevents genuine socialism from being introduced. Armed working-class, would not be able to defeat the professionals of the armed forces.
• Socialism can be introduced without destroying capitalism; through re-distribution of power/wealth created by capitalism.
• Capitalism has become so successful that it now creates enough for everyone to benefit from its wealth creation. Forced expropriation and sharing of scarce resources is no longer necessary.
• The state is a neutral body and can thus be captured by a social democrat party, democracy used to introduce socialism, if there is widespread support for this within the wider population. Democracy indicates that the state is neutral.
• Working class is the largest class, Social Democrats should be able to win elections frequently.
• People become better educated (and therefore possess a better moral outlook) and technology is developed to carry out unpopular forms of labour, it will be easier for social democracy to be supported by the population and therefore introduced.