Usually socialism means that ‘the people’ have the right to try and influence market power, so that the inherently top down processes of capitalism involving corporations and other elites do not tread all over them. Socialism also tries to provide increased opportunity for those who are disadvantaged, or who don’t have the luck to be born to wealthy parents, without lowering the opportunities for those who start off more fortunate. Capitalism seems to try to make it harder for people to succeed if they are not born into the right class. Metaphorically, if capitalism wants dancers, it breaks the legs of everyone who is poor, has them set badly, and then claims that the wealthy dance better because they have worked harder and have more intrinsic talent. Sure some people with broken legs will find a new way of dancing, but the corporate media will scoff endlessly. Socialism approves of social mobility and people bettering themselves, even when they are not of the right class.
Attempting to curb corporate power and insure against bad luck, usually translates into government policies such as there should be a minimum wage (rather than that competition between workers should bottom out below what is needed to live). There should be some kind of unemployment benefits (so that people can risk changing work, or not be forced to work for wages less than the benefits) and this benefit should not just time out. There is usually some kind of provision for health care, so that poor people do not have to ‘choose’ to die or suffer unnecessarily. There is usually a provision for basic pensions, or a compensation scheme, for people who are ill or injured and cannot work.
Socialism believes that a people can only govern themselves if there is a good education system not influenced entirely by commercial factors, as commerce has little relationship to truth. So it usually believes that spending taxpayers’ money on such a system is a good investment, although it allows people to spend their own money, without subsidy, on their ideas of education, provided it meets some basic quality standards – there will always be debate about these. A socialist state usually has a well funded and independent media provider – which is free of government intervention and commercial control – this has to be fought for, as capitalists like controlling all information. Ideally a socialist government should not be able to declare war unless there is a direct attack on the country, or it consults with the people.
There are usually regulations on the ‘free market’ (as the desire of corporations to control markets completely is known), so that people cannot be injured, maimed or killed at work without some employer responsibility or compensation from the system. There are usually regulations so that corporations cannot poison, or pollute with complete impunity. It is usually expected that money earned in a country should be taxed in that country, as the money is earned in a situation built by that taxation and spending. Socialism encourages unions so that workers have some bargaining power at work and some rough power equality with their employers.
The classic socialist states usually ran businesses in competition with private companies. The idea of this was to prevent cartels forming, to have real competition, and to try and foster innovation which is commercially risky. Socialist governments usually try and make sure there is an independent science sector as well to avoid commercial control and the issuing of harmful but profitable substances, and to try and prevent patents from inhibiting research and innovation.
Basically socialism is about minimising the top down organisation that you get in capitalism where, when things are unchecked, you end up with a simple plutocracy and those who have the money have all the power – like we have now. Socialism encourages all people to participate in their governmental process at whatever level they wish to. It does not panic at the thought of popular action and power sharing.
Naturally plutocrats hate the idea of sharing power, so they spend a lot of money pretending that capitalist practice leads to liberty and good for all. It has never done so. Capitalism always leads to capitalists capturing the government and using it to further their interests at the expense of everyone else.
Tags: Disinformation, economics, free markets
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