What is Socialism?

In short, socialism is a socioeconomic system where the working class control the means of production, guide policy through real democratic practice, and the productive forces of society are leveraged to put human needs before profit.

Socialism is a socioeconomic system built on meeting human needs first and foremost. Capitalism, the system we live under today, is dominated by the profit motive; whereas under Socialism our basic needs are in the driver seat of both the economy and society more broadly.

Here’s our full explanation:

In a Capitalist system, the business owners, shareholders, and politicians who constitute the ruling class derive their power from their monopoly on the means of production. Socialism transfers this ownership and the political power that comes with it to the ordinary people of the working class. This means that the economy is no longer a tool to be wielded by Capitalists in the name of greater profits at the expense of working class people and the environment. Socialism contains within it a diverse set of practices and theories, and how exactly the Working Class achieves this collective ownership depends on what line of thought you subscribe to. One common method is through nationalization, bringing the major industries (e.g., banks, utilities, telecommunications, energy extraction) under collective worker control through the state. Other methods include challenging the capitalist state’s control over the economy by building workers’ direct control of the economy through workers’ and tenants’ councils, things that we can build today within the confines of Capitalism!

Under Socialism, the exploitation you experience from Capitalists who pay you far less than the value of what you produce no longer takes place. Workers own the full value of their labor without Capitalists skimming from the top. Furthermore, the production of essential goods no longer needs to rely on the whims of the market and competition between capitalists. Instead, the economy is rationally planned so as to provide what people need when they need it. Housing, education, food, healthcare, these are all needs that Capitalists either exploit for profit or ignore due to their unprofitability. Under Socialism, that’s no longer the case, and as such these needs can be provided at a very affordable rate, if not completely free. The immediate question, of course, is how can this be done? There are several answers. If you subscribe to nationalization, state-run industries can use their revenue to fund social programs and provide cheap, high-quality public services to the people (such as housing, healthcare, and commerce), but no matter what, Socialism always entails that the working class gets to democratically decide how our economy operates. Raised issues like “we need better food in our community” or “we need more renewable energy” are no longer ignored at the demand of capitalists looking out for their bottom line. They are brought under democratic control of the people to deliberate, decide, and act upon.

This relates to what might be the most important point of all: under Socialism people have a genuine say in their government. Rather than picking between two capitalist parties with little actual difference in treatment of the working class between them, genuinely democratic structures and forms of governance can be implemented to reflexively and proactively meet the people’s needs. This means a radically different set of government bodies and institutions, all of which serve the interests of the Working Class.

Advocates of Capitalism will frequently claim that their system is the only one that can innovate and increase quality of life, but that’s blatantly false. Because Capitalism prioritizes profits, needs like healthcare or education are ignored in favor of profitable industries like the military- industrial complex; if they are not ignored, they are squeezed for as much money as possible. Meanwhile, in the Socialist nation of Cuba, there are not only more doctors per capita than anywhere else on Earth, but the average lifespan is longer than in the United States.

This brings us to the supposed “alien” nature of “Socialism” in the United States. The experience many have with the word conjures images of a nebulous, un-American, and “evil” ideology. What you often don’t hear about is rich socialist traditions that have existed in the US and fought hard for change on behalf of the working class, only to be repressed by the iron fist of the capitalist state. Mainstream history, like the kind you often learn about in school, has a vested interest in this: Its purpose is to prop up the status quo! You may not have heard of Eugene Debs, who was the Socialist Party of America’s Presidential candidate from 1904 to 1920. He helped found [IWW], and was the first Presidential Candidate to run a campaign from prison. Few schools teach about the Coal Wars, which were a series of armed labor conflicts in West Virginia from 1890-1930, as miners took up arms against the brutal exploitation they faced. The miners faced down the United States Military and in their resistance were the first Americans bombed by the US Air Force. Of course, perhaps the most famous Socialist organization in the United States was the Black Panther Party, a Marxist-Leninist black liberation group focused on class struggle, self-defense, and uplifting the Black community in areas they operated through policies like their Free Breakfast for Children program. One of their leaders in Chicago, Fred Hampton, was murdered by the police and CIA when he was 21 years old.

But even if Socialism was a new concept in the US, it wouldn’t matter, as Socialism is an internationalist movement which seeks solidarity with the working class across the world. We are one part of the global proletariat, with whom we share both common interests, and a common foe: Our exploiters, the Capitalists! One of the key phrases of the socialist movement is “Workers of the World Unite!”, we can learn much from our comrades abroad; finding similarities in struggle and solidarity through this unification.

If you want to learn more about Capitalism, Socialism, and how DSA engages with Socialist Theory, join us for our next Socialism 101!