What is Socialism

I have heard much talk in this election year about socialism. Much of it is in the form of accusations made by one candidate to another over economic issues. With the economy heavily weighing on the minds of voters this election, let us take a moment to determine what socialism is.

Socialism has its roots in the philosophy of Karl Marx. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Karl Marx’s philosophy was based on the belief that societies, including economic systems, rise and fall as they further and then impede the development of human power. He viewed capitalists as those who would in the beginning further the development of human power but as the economic system grew he believed these capitalists would begin to impede this development. His view on profit was that it was the extraction by these capitalists of excess value from an exploited proletariat or working class. He believed that societies would progress through various modes of production, culminating in communism.

Full-fledged communism is when the state or government has full control and ownership of economic resources. Socialism is system in which the government allows private ownership of resources but through progressive taxation and regulation attempts to redistribute these resources among the population. This fulfills the underlying philosophy of Karl Marx “To each according to his need. From each according to his ability”.

In order to determine if a candidates accusation of socialism on his or her opponent are true, we need to look at his or her economic positions. If his or her positions favor the following, his or her policies are socialistic in nature.

1. The candidate proposes increasing taxes on the rich who are the greatest producers in the economy.
2. The candidate proposes tax cuts to lower income individuals regardless of whether they even pay taxes.
3. The candidate proposes using the increase taxes received from the producers to offer benefits to lower income individuals such as free healthcare or free education.
4. The candidate opposes any proposed across the board tax cuts or reformation of the tax code to a flat rate income tax or sales tax.

However, I am not saying that the candidate is a socialist, just that his or her economic policies are socialistic in nature.

The only thing left is for you as a voter to determine is if you believe socialism is the most beneficial economic policy for the country to follow. However, consider that most of us probably work for one of these capitalist producers in the economy. If we increase taxes on these producers, how will they pay the additional taxes?

1. They could just fork over the money
2. They could increase prices to their customers
3. They could lay-off employees
4. They could offer lower, or even eliminate pay raises
5. They could offer lower, or even eliminate bonuses such as Christmas bonuses
6. They could lower pay
7. They could lower or eliminate some employee benefits

All of these methods for payment of increased taxes, except the first one, would actually end up punishing the lower and middle class individuals the socialist policies were designed to help. So do socialist economic policies really help the lower or middle class or actually end up hurting them? Something to consider as Election Day approaches.