socialism

Question 1

Marx and Engels

Answer 1

Human Nature:
- originally fraternal and altruistic, has been contaminated by capitalism, instilling the ‘false consciousness’ of bourgeois values
- revolutionary socialism will solve this

The state:
- the existing liberal-bourgeois state is a tool of the dominant capitalist class
- it must be destroyed by revolution and replaced by a new socialist state: a dictatorship of the proletariat

Society:
- Capitalist society is sickeningly, yet fatally, defined by class interests and class conflict
- a communist society will be the perfect ‘end of history’

the economy:
- capitalism is corrupt, inefficient and ultimately self-destructive
- should be replaced by an economy based on collective ownership

Question 2

Rosa Luxemburg

Answer 2

Human Nature:
- has not been damaged to the extent Marx alleged
- Fraternity and altruism still flourish in working class communities punished by capitalist economics

The state
- the existing capitalist state must be destroyed by revolution, but one arising from strike action
- the replacement state should be a genuine democracy complete with free speech and free elections

Society:
- capitalist society is class-ridden and morally indefensible, yet alternative societies or sub-cultures, exist within downtrodden proletarian communities

Economy:
- capitalism is more resilient than Marx allowed
- its necessary destruction, and replacement by an economy based on workers’ control, will require determination and solidarity among the proletariat

Question 3

Beatrice Webb

Answer 3

Human nature:
- the damage inflicted by capitalism upon the human psyche will be compounded only by violent revolution
- Humanity needs to be guided back, gradually, to its original, cooperative condition

The state:
- if harnessed to universal suffrage, the existing state could be used to effect a gradual transition to socialism

Society:
- the poverty and inequalities of a capitalist society continue to depress human potential while fostering regressive competition

Economy:
- a chaotic capitalist economy will be gradually replaced by one which secures for workers the full fruits of their labour, based upon a common ownership of the means of production

Question 4

Anthony Crosland

Answer 4

Human nature:
- has a powerful sense of ‘fairness’ and an innate objection to huge inequalities of outcome

The State:
- Democratic socialist governments prove that the existing state can be used to effect radical, socialist change

Society:
- increasingly complicated, altered by the emergence of new social groups comprising ‘meritocratic’ managers and ‘classless’ technocrats

Economy:
- a mixed economy, underpinned by limited public ownership and Keynesian capitalism, will finance the greater public spending necessary to secure equality

Question 5

Anthony Giddens

Answer 5

Human Nature:
- has been shaped by changing socio-economic conditions
- the pro-fairness instinct is still present, but it now competes with a sharpened sense of individual aspiration

the State:
- existing liberal state should be improved, redistributing and decentralising political power while encouraging greater political participation