EssaysForStudent.com - Free Essays, Term Papers & Book Notes
Search

Socialism

By:   •  Essay  •  727 Words  •  March 21, 2010  •  855 Views

Page 1 of 3

Socialism

What would happen if we all made the same amount of money? To understand what our society would be as socialist, we must understand the difference between socialist and capitalist ideas. The question becomes not so much as what is socialism, but how does it differ from capitalism, and what is wrong with capitalistic ideas to where we would need socialism.

The problem becomes where do you draw the line between capitalism and socialism to where we have trust, sense of community and also competition? If the answer were that simple we would live in a perfect society. A problem that is happening in our society is that intellectual conversations about our society and nations problems are not occurring. With our individualistic lifestyle we have so little time for ourselves that we would rather fill our minds with stuff like sports, movies and television sitcoms that further numb our minds. In this era, media and advertising have become the norm on how you are to think and behave. Many people do not even know what the difference between capitalism and socialism, which is a problem. So many people fill their minds with media filler and eventually develop a vast useless knowledge of pop culture. A lot of people are so far removed form societal intellect that to discuss great theories about society and its effects are impossible. These thought blockers allow a mental escape from daily stressors and can even create enjoyment in peoples lives, but these things block community conversations that could be powerful enough to create a great paradigm shift in the way we think and live.

Karl Marx was a liberal reformist who believed that capitalism could be reformed and inequality and exploitation of the working classes could be addressed and abolished.

Marx sees capitalism as a mode of production emerging from feudalism. He focuses on capitalism as an unequal mode of production, one which exploits workers, just as the slave state exploited slaves. In Volume 1 of Capital, Marx elaborated his version of the labor theory value and his conception of surplus value and exploitation which would ultimately lead to a falling rate of profit in the collapse of industrial capitalism.

According to Marx, this inequality is a fundamental aspect of capitalism, and needs to be changed through dialectical struggle. Marx believed that the internal tensions and contradictions of capitalism will eventually destroy capitalism, and capitalism will evolve into socialism, which would be a utopian mode of production.

.

Karl

Continue for 2 more pages »  •  Join now to read essay Socialism
Download as (for upgraded members)
txt
pdf