Socialism Flashcards
Meaning of fraternity?
The sharing of common interests , everyone is tightly knitted like brothers
What are the three groups of socialism?
- Revolutionary Socialists
- Social democrats
- Third way socialists
Who are the thinkers for Revolutionary socialists?
- Marx
- Engels
- Luxemburg
Who is the thinker for the Social Democrats?
-Anthony Crossland
Who is the thinker for Third Way Socialism?
- Anthony Giddens
Revolutionary socialists view on human nature ?
- generally good, co-operative and empathetic.
- It can be can be moulded by the society around them
- capitalism can cause it to become become greedy
Revolutionary socialists view on the state?
- state should be abolished as it was the tool of the bourgeoisie
- socialist state needs to be implemented in order to promote social justice and the redistribution of wealth
Revolutionary socialists view on society?
- a classless society where there is full equality is desirable
- existing society is so ‘sick’ that a revolution can provide the necessary ‘shock therapy’
Revolutionary socialists view on the economy?
- aim for the total abolition of capitalism
- want redistribution of wealth
Social democrats view on human nature?
- humanity can become a cooperative fraternal condition
Social democrats view on the state?
- socialist parties should campaign peacefully
- Social democracy believes in capitalism with a strong interventionist state
Social democrats view on economy?
- capitalism can stay with a strong interventionists state
- capitalism is the best state to generate wealth
- They are critical of the inequalities caused by free market capitalism but also accept capitalism as being the best way to generate wealth
Third way view on human nature?
- humans are naturally inclined towards fairness
- humans require cohesive society
nature can prosper under capitalism
Third way view of the state?
- rejected state intervention
- role of state to be toward social investment
- less bloating of welfare state
- state can be reformed to produce greater political equality
Third way view of society?
- rejected class conflict
- wanted equality emerged with capitalism
Third way view of economy?
- accepted/ encourages capitalism
- the wealth from capitalism and free market would be put into social investments
What is historical materialism?
At first there were primitive societies, the economic system of capitalism manifested and class consciousness and the proletariat eventually rise up and revolt.
The proletariat eventually destroy capitalism
Why did Marx think revolution was inevitable?
Believed that revolution was inevitable as the conditions of capitalism will create class consciousness
Why did Webb not believe in revolution
She feared that revolution would only cause more chaos and make human nature even worse
What is the ‘inevitability of gradualism’
Webb believed that it was inevitable because working class people would vote for socialist parties and this would lead to those socialist parties reforming the state which would lead to more votes as humans would see the benefits
How did Luxemburg disagree with Marx about revolution?
Luxemburg disagreed with Marx that we had to wait for revolution, capitalism could be destroyed and abolished much earlier
Why did Anthony Crossland think capitalism had changed?
Crosland believed capitalism was no longer an evil oppressive system as the post war reforms of Labour had changed it for the better. Therefore there was no need to abolish capitalism
Define collectivism
Collectivism implies cooperation with others with others rather than competitive individual self striving. It leads to cooperation and prevents conflict and aggression that is caused by self striving.
Why are all socialists egalitarians?
They believe in equality is the core principle and it is an aspect of our human nature.
Which socialist strand does not use the language of class at all
Third Way
Define communism
An economic system in which the means of production are owned by the common rather than the individuals. Also social class and inequality are abolished
Why did the consequence of revolutionary socialist prove disappointing for many socialists
Marx’s ideas
Define class consciousness
The Marxist idea that the proletariat would become aware of their economic position in society and join others to form a mass revolutionary movement
What theory did Luxembourg develop?
Revolutionary mass action- she believed that the organisation is the class struggle had to come from below and show be a spontaneous uprising of the proletariat
What is revisionist stand of socialism
Social democracy and the Third Way
Why do social democrats accept capitalism?
best way of creating large amounts of wealth.
How do the social democrats ensure there is social justice ?
progressive taxation, welfare and redistribution, mixed economies
Social democrats are also called revisionists sometimes why?
They rejected revolution as violent and unnecessary at a time when the franchise was being extended and capitalism had proved to be more complex. Reformism implies gradual and peaceful change