Socialism is a political and economic theory that parallels capitalism and communism but socialism advocates the means of production distribution, and exchange to be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Where the property is owned by multiple individuals and Capital comes from distributed among all individuals.
Do you know what was common among them? all of them were socialists. so obviously, you’d wonder Its core philosophy is Society. While Capitalism is based on competition, Socialism is based on social justice. But if I try to define Socialism in the most basic way, like we did with Communism and Capitalism, in a similar sense.
The definition of Socialism means that “Every person will work according to his ability, and they’ll get the benefits according to their contribution” Based on Communism’s definition, people get things based on their needs but in Socialism, the one working harder will get more.
The oldest examples of the implementation of Socialism can be said to be the kings and emperors, that didn’t work for self-interest.
What is the ideology of Socialism?
That was so popular among them. Speaking, the word ‘Socialism’ is derived from words like ‘social interest’ and ‘society’. This means all wealth generated by companies is shared with the workers of companies because the companies are owned by the workers.
Early History of Socialism:
Instead, they worked for social interests. The kings, who worked for their subjects. A good example of this is the philosopher Chanakya. In the 3rd and 4th parts of his book, Arthshastra, he has written, about Welfare State and Socialized Monarchy.
About the responsibilities that a king has towards social interests. Several centuries later, in Europe, the Industrial Revolution took root. and as I told you in the videos on Communism and Capitalism, the workers were treated pathetically during the Industrial Revolution.
Children as young as 10 years old are made to work in factories in terrible conditions and most of the profits from there, went into the hands of the factory owners. Leading to a rapid rise in income inequality. and monopolies start to form.
To counter all these problems. different people suggested different solutions. Karl Marx suggested Communism On the other hand, philosophers like Thomas Payne, “said that the landowners should be paying Real Estate Tax and Inheritance Tax.” the tax that is collected, could be used to give pensions to the workers, disability pension, and allowances.
There were some other philosophers with ideas and solutions much more radical. Like Rousseau and Proudhon. They believed that there shouldn’t be any private property. by private property, they didn’t mean that you can’t have your phone or books, these are personal possessions.
So there is a major difference between personal property and private property. By private property, they meant immovable assets Like land and buildings. no person should own land. Or any building.
They related this thing with the mountains, oceans, rivers, and jungles, no person owns these. These are meant for everyone. That’s why they believed that land is something that shouldn’t be sold to any private individual.
Were three famous socialists, who believed that Socialism is not an ideology that is against rich people. Rather, they practiced non-violence. Their purpose was to educate the rich to teach them moral values, for them to realize that if they give up their means of production not only will it benefit the world but they would themselves be happy doing it. This Socialist ideology is named the Ideology of Mahatma Gandhi.
Utopian Socialism:
Do you know friends; which Indian freedom fighter was inspired by Utopian Socialism? He is Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s Trusteeship Principle was based on this ideology that the rich, the factory owners and landowners, won’t have to give up their wealth, instead, they’ll be taught that the wealth is more than what is needed for their survival, they are only the trustees of that extra wealth.
And who will be the owner of that extra wealth? Gopal. (One of the names of the Hindu God Vishnu’s Krishna avatar.) he said that all land belongs to God. Gandhi was inspired by the Isha Upanishad’s (A Hindu Scripture) Apari Graha, the principle of non-possession.
He said that if one accumulates so much wealth that one doesn’t even need it, it will be akin to stealing. It’ll be theft. Famous industrialists J.R.D. Tata and Azim Premji, the biggest philanthropist in India, were inspired by Gandhi’s Trusteeship Principle.
But even before Gandhi, it is said that the first Indian to call himself a socialist was Swami Vivekananda. his ideology was also inspired by Utopian Socialism to quite an extent. but he used it in the Indian context.
Some people call his ideology as the Spiritual Socialism. Which is similar to Utopian Socialism. A contrast to this ideology is the ideology of Revolutionary Socialism.
Socialism of Bhagat Singh:
These people believed in Revolutionary Socialism. They believed that Socialism isn’t a matter of moral values. It is about providing justice to the people. and if this justice isn’t achievable through non-violence, then people should fight for it.
They believed that because at one time, people used the words Communism and Socialism interchangeably. Karl Marx dreamt of Communism.
A stateless and classless society, where everyone lived in harmony. Leading to so much surplus production, that everyone will get everything according to their needs. what would people do with excess when there wouldn’t be any private property to buy? Some people say that everyone is selfish in the world. so greedy
so how can Communism be possible? It’s not that Karl Marx lived in a golden age. Neither did Karl Marx think that every individual is a saint. Rather, Karl Marx protested Utopian Socialism because people aren’t so straightforward. That’s why, he believed, a revolution was needed.
He believed that the ideology of the dominant class in the society becomes the ideology of the common people in that society Based on the material conditions, people’s opinions are shaped.
That’s why if selfish, greedy, ambitious capitalist people are in power then because of the existing culture, the common people will also consider selfishness, greed, and aggressive competition to be something natural.
That’s why, Communism cannot be introduced directly, in his opinion. An intermediate stage would be needed for it. Karl Marx called this intermediate stage Socialism.
Communism was “to each as per his needs.” And Socialism’s definition became “to each as per his contribution.”
Bhagat Singh had said “Meaning that society is hinged upon the hard work of the workers.” The workers grow crops in fields. The worker weaving clothes.
Bhagat Singh asked the question. He said that the purpose of the revolution was to create a Socialist Republic. In a socialist country, the workers would control the means of production. and the profits will go to the workers.
Leading to the fulfillment of “to each as per his contribution” in the truest sense. as compared to the Capitalist society where the means of production are controlled by the capitalists and most of the money and profits from the factory, go into the hands of the capitalists. One way to give the means of production into the hands of the workers can be Nationalization.
Practical Implementation Socialism:
A very popular example of this is the company Amul. Amul does not have an individual owner. Instead, 3.6 million farmers own Amul. and all the profit of the company is shared among these farmers. another example of this is Lijjat Papad. That is owned by 45,000 workers. Friends, related to this, another commonly heard word in the ideology of Socialism is MSME.
Medium, Small, Micro Enterprises. In a food stall selling Chhole Kulche the owner is also the worker. That’s why it is Socialism. Based on how much he works in his stall in a day, he earns that day. This greatly contrasts large companies.
With the growth of a company, the profit share of the workers in that company keeps on reducing. He who works is the one who earns. This is no doubt a matter of social justice, but apart from this, there are two major advantages of MSMEs.
First, an economy is not shaped like a pyramid. Instead, it becomes very decentralized. and a decentralized economy is often very recession-proof. The second advantage is employment. Think about it, if a large company earns ₹1 billion, how many people does it employ? And compare it to a cooperative company like Amul.
if it earns ₹1 billion, how many people would it employ? Or many small enterprises, earn ₹1 billion collectively, how many people will be employed in those companies? Look at this 2020 report. the so-called unorganized sector. the micro-enterprises their contribution to the GDP of the country is equal to the contribution of the so-called organized sector.
But if we were to talk about employment, 90% of people are employed in the unorganized sector. While giving the same revenue, 9 times more employment.
The advantage of Socialism:
That there is a small number of large enterprises in Capitalism. Whereas in Socialism, there is a large number of small enterprises.
After this comes the socialist ideology of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. An ideology that is named Fabian Socialism. This is a socialist ideology that didn’t believe in violence either. He believed that Socialism was not the final goal. Instead, it is a steady progress. a reformist progress that takes time. He believed that even a common man could become a part of the entrepreneurial class. That private companies, should not be completely down away with.