Socialism Flashcards
What are the core tenets of Socialism?
- Equality
- Collectivism
- Common Ownership
- Class Conflict
What are the two main categories of Socialists, for the purpose of this exam?
- Fundamentalist Socialists
- Revisionist Socialism
Explain the Fundamentalist Socialist belief in Equality
Belief in Absolute Equality or Equality of Outcome. ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need’
Explain the Revisionist Socialist belief in Equality
Belief in Equality of Opportunity and Welfare, but acceptance of Inequality of Outcome
What is the ‘long’ definition of Collectivism?
The belief that the collective human endeavour is of greater practical and moral value than individual self striving
Explain Collectivism (Socialism Topic)
People prefer to work together, and Cooperation is more practically effective than Competition.
What is the Socialist view of human nature?
Humans are naturally cooperative but ‘plastic’
Explain the Socialist view of the ‘Plasticity’ of Human Nature
The only reason people are selfish and competitive is because they have been moulded that way by Capitalism
Explain the Socialist belief in Common Ownership
- Private property is unnatural and immoral. No one should get to withhold land from others.
- Links with Collectivism and makes Equality possible
What are the two approaches to ‘Common Ownership’ within Socialism?
- Fundamentalists wants to abolish private property
- Revisionists want key industries to be nationalised
Explain the Socialist belief in ‘Class Conflict’
- Class is the most significant division of society. It should be minimised if not abolished.
- Class is a meta-narrative
- Defined by relationships to the means of production
Do all Socialists believe in Class Conflict?
After the 70s Socialists in the UK (Social Democrats) turned away from class conflict due to shrinking of working class and shifted focus to overall social justice
Why do Socialists believe that is Class the most significant division of society?
Classes have common interests within themselves, which often conflict with the interests of other classes.
What do different kinds of Socialists think about methods to solve Class Conflict?
- Marxists think it will only be solved if capitalism is overturned in favour of communism
- State Socialists think governments must act in the interest of the working class
- S.D.s don’t believe in class conflict
What are the subtopics within Marxist ideology?
- Dialectic/Theory of History
- Social Class
- Role of the State
- Nature of Capitalism
- Development of Capitalism
- Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Explain Marx’s interpretation of the Dialectic
Dialectic process based around economic relationships. Every age has a ruling and exploited class. Exploitation always intensifies overtime until the exploited class overthrows the ruling class and the classes switch roles, restarting the process.
Summarise the key points/stages of why/how Marx thought Capitalism was doomed to fail
-Gravediggers +Surplus Value
-Exploitation Escalation
-Economic Crises
-Class Consciousness
-Class Polarisation
-
What were the two sections Marx divided social class into?
- Bourgeoisie, who owned the means of production
- Proletariat who did not own the means of production
Why, in Marx’s theory, did the working class not have class consciousness to begin with?
The ruling class control the ideology of the age, which creates a false consciousness which distorts the view of the exploited class into thinking everything is okay
Why did Marx see Communism as the end point of history?
-No class means no class conflict means no dialectic, so no more revolutions
What was Marx’s view of the state?
Viewed it as the ‘management committee of the ruling class’. Serves the purpose of repressing the re-emergence of capitalism after the revolution, before it withers away.
What is Marx’s view of the ‘Nature of Capitalism’?
- Based on Self Interest, Efficiency and Growth.
- Based on Capital which can be continually improved
- Reduces labour to the same status as Capital
- Capitalists extract ‘surplus value’ from workers
Explain how Capitalism creates its own ‘Gravediggers’ and explain ‘Surplus Value’
Capitalists seek to grow and maximise efficiency, so workers are paid minimally and ‘surplus value’ is extracted from their labour to reinvest into the business and grow, increasing the scale and intensity of exploitation, leading to revolt.
Explain Marx’s belief in the escalation of worker exploitation in the Dialectic process
-As capitalism grows, intensity and scale of worker exploitation grows.
