Although it is believed that the word communist is a concept of the XIX century. This is not like this. Already in the Greek era Plato advanced certain ideas in his work The Republic, which would later be criticized by Aristotle and Plato himself returned to answer with a new book The Laws.
In the 19th century, the difference between socialism and communism was not so clear, however, today there are a number of differences. First of all, we are going to historically contextualize what was understood by socialism and communism.
What do you need to differentiate socialism from communism?
Socialism
- Socialism is concerned that the State somehow monopolizes or sufficiently controls the means of production, the Administration and the social organization; to channel an equitable distribution of resources, rights and obligations and control that there were no differences.
- Socialism is a political order based on the control and democratization of production by the working class.
- Socialist is also defined as any theory, doctrine or movement that advocates its implementation and in turn derives from the political essence of Marxism.
- Socialism can be non-state, through community ownership in a broad sense, or state, through nationalization and economic planning of production. In a socialist system, when the social ownership of the means of production is established, any form of private property, goods or capital disappears.
- Socialism emerged as an ideology, after carrying out the French Revolution in 1789. From then on, with the rise to power of the bourgeoisie and with the replacement of the old feudal system by the capitalist system of Adam Smith, some thinkers such as Robert Owen emerged, François Babeuf, Henri de Saint-Simon or Charles Fourier.
- With the fall of the old system of absolutist monarchy, they propose a change in terms of the distribution of wealth within society. These thinkers were called utopian thinkers because their ideas were more philosophical and ethical than practical. These ideas permeated the philosopher, economist and politician Karl Marx, considered the father of scientific socialism. He gathered the ideas of the utopian socialists and joined them with his own in his work The Communist Manifesto (1848). Later he would publish his other great work De él El Capital (1867). Marxist ideas were not put into practice until the Russian Revolution (1917).
- Objective: To reach a classless society.
- Branches of socialism:
- Utopian socialism: Robert Owen, François Babeuf, Henri de Saint-Simon or Charles Fourier.
- Scientific Socialism: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
- Social democracy promote the obtaining of social reforms through parliamentary means.
Communism
- Communism is a type of socialism, hence its confusion sometimes. It is a doctrine that largely postulates the restriction of private property, a certain degree of collectivization and gives significant weight to the working class.
- Communism raises in its theoretical perspective the construction of a society without social classes in which the State dissolves, being society itself through its workers who assume power.
- Similarly, private property is considered illegitimate, ensuring true social and economic equality.
- Its origins are found in the France of the revolution, although with different aspects. The essence of his doctrine is born from the discontent of the working class that remains outside the triumph of the bourgeoisie. Just as the nobles had hindered the bourgeois class so as not to lose their privileges, the bourgeois also tried to curb a sector that was growing and that, unlike the bourgeois, had no economic, social, or political power.
- The first time that a communist party managed to win was in the Russian Revolution where Marxism-Leninism appeared as the main banner of the communist movement in world politics. Then a new form of Marxism-Leninism appeared in China, known as Maoism, which emphasized the role of the peasant classes as agents of revolution.
Instructions to differentiate socialism from communism
Socialist
- Part of a bourgeois ideal
- It harbors the idea of society
- reformist nuance
- He seeks to impose himself through political means and is committed to democracy.
- There is private property.
Communist
- Part of a worker ideal.
- It harbors the idea of community.
- revolutionary nuance
- It seeks to impose itself through the revolutionary path.
- Abolition of the State.
- Eliminate private property.
Another difference
- At the colloquial level, what is understood is that the socialist is less radical than the communist.
Tips to differentiate socialism from communism
- Although countries like China and Vietnam are labeled as communists, none really are. All of them are led by political parties called communists that govern the state. Precisely communism proposes the abolition of the State, for which reason no country has ever become truly communist.
- Marx’s idea was that in order to reach a communist system from capitalism, it was necessary to give the State all the power.
- Communism was basically about reaching equality and harmony, but Lenin believed in the class struggle, so there were big differences. To reach equality, numerous murders were carried out in order to reorganize the structure of society.