Socialism - Topic 3

Question 1

What were the views of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels?

On human nature, the state, the economy and society

Revolutionary Socialist - Communist/Marxist

Answer 1

Human nature:

• Humans are naturally altrusitic. However, capitalism instils them with a false consciousness of ‘bourgeois values’

The state:

• Capitalism must be destroyed by revolution. The state will be temporarily replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat and will wither away when communism is established

The economy:

• Capitalism is corrupt and inefficient and should be replaced by an economy where resources are collectively owned and distributed according to need

Society:

• Capitalism corrupts society and the elite oppress the working class, creating class conflict. A communist society will have absolute equality and societal harmony

Question 2

What were the views of Rosa Luxemburg?

On human nature, the state, the economy and society

Revolutionary Socialist

Answer 2

Human nature:

• Human nature has been damaged by capitalism. However, humans are not perfect and parliamentary democracy is needed to prevent tyranny

The state:

• Capitalism should be destroyed by revolution and replaced by a genuine democracy

The economy:

• Marx’s historical materialism idea is flawed as capitalism does not need to reach a ‘final stage’ before it can be abolished. Communist revolutions could happen in less economically developed societies

Society:

• Capitalism corrupts society and the elite oppress the working class, creating class conflict. A democratic communist society will provide absolute equality and social harmony

Question 3

What were the views of Beatrice Webb?

On human nature, the state, the economy and society

Social Democrat - Evolutionary Socialist

Answer 3

Human nature:

• Capitalism has damaged the human psyche. However, Webb believed in intellectual and moral imperfection, particularly of the working class

The state:

• The state should be used to create a socialist society. This would be achieved via universal suffrage and would be a gradual process

The economy:

• The free-market economy would be gradually nationalised as the workers obtain common ownership of the means of production

Society:

• Society under socialist state management will produce equality of outcome

Question 4

What were the views of Anthony Crosland

On human nature, the state, the economy and society

Social Democrat

Answer 4

Human nature:

• Human nature in innately fair. Inequalities of outcome of opportunity hinder collective human progres

The state:

• The state should be managed by ‘meritocratic managers’ and ‘classless technocrats’

The economy:

• Rejected Webb’s gradualism and argued for a mixed economy and Keynesian capitalism. Believed capitalism had largely been removed of its exploitative tendencies

Society:

• State management will affect societal change and create social justice and equality of welfare

Question 5

What are the views of Anthony Giddens?

On human nature, the state, the economy and society

Third Way

Answer 5

Human nature:

• Human nature is shaped by socioeconomic conditions. More focus on humans as both individual and collective creatures

The state:

• The state should invest in social investment and infrastructure and refrain from economic and social engineering

The economy:

• A neo-liberal economy with a free market is more efficient that all socialist economic models and the tax revenue they generate can finance greater of opportunity

Society:

• Society will embrace equality of opportunity and communal responsibility instead of class conflict