Marxist Theory 101 - #1: Socialism & Communism

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• published: 20 Mar 2014
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First episode in a series. Feel free to suggest improvements. In this episode we'll define some terms. Socialism: -Worker Control of the means of production -Worker Ownership of the means of production -A socialist state is a state where working class has taken state power and the means of production are owned in common Communism: -A higher stage of socialism -Stateless(as society progresses the state "withers" away. This will be discussed in a later episode) -Super abundance of resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- What are Socialism and Communism? By Marxist-Leninist Theory. Hi there. This is going to be a series of short videos where I explain some basic concepts of marxist theory. I will start with very basic things, but we will later move to more complicated and advanced topics. I will try to keep these videos short. I will also try to be as clear as possible. If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask. I hope these videos will be informative. Let's begin. In this video im going to give you a basic explanation what Communism and socialism actually are. There is a lot of disinformation and confusion around the terms Communism and Socialism, but please have an open mind and listen and you'll learn what communism is really all about, and what communists really believe. First let's explore the difference between Communism and Socialism. Note: I'm going to use some marxist terminology, but I'm going to always define it so you know what I mean. Basically socialism means worker control or worker ownership of the means of production. That's it. Now, what are means of production? Marxism defines means of production as implyments, tools and machines used in production such as farm land, tractors, factories, banks, power plants etc. So basically socialism means that the workers control their work place. Later in this series we will discuss how this has been applied in practice throughout history. What then is communism? Communism or Marxism is a specific kind of socialism. Communism itself is a stage of development in a society where there is no state, no money, no private ownership of the means of production and there exists a super abundance of resources, so that everyone's needs such as, access to food, healthcare, housing, education and work are fullfilled. This can also be called full communism but keep in mind that this historical stage has never been reached and none of the main marxist thinkers ever wrote an extensive blueprint on how a communist society should be organized as there exists very little empirical data about it and it would be mostly speculation without a truly marxist scientific basis. But those are some of the basic ideas: no state, no private property and abundance of resources. Now here is what confuses people. Although countries like The soviet union were led by a communist party, they were not communist. They were socialist. In fact the soviet union was called "the union of soviet socialist republics", not communist republics. This is because communism is stateless. Therefore there can't exist a communist state. Marxists argue that communism can only be reached after a period of historical development which they call socialism. In this stage the means of production are owned by the working class through the worker's state and various cooperative organizations. In this stage the state still exists as well as money and also material scarcity. However in order to meet the needs of the people a market economy is replaced by a planned economy, where instead of production being controlled by blind market forces only caring for profit, the people get together and decide what to produce. However planned economy will have to be a topic for another video. Let's recap. Socialism means worker ownership or control of the means of production: factories, land, machines, banks etc. This can be summed up in the maxim, "from each according to his ability to each according to his work" It also means a period in a country where the working class has taken state power, means of production are owned in common and market economy has been replaced by a planned economy. Communism means a higher stage of development after socialism where the coercive force of the state doesnt exist anymore, there is an abundance of resources and everyone's needs are met. This can be summed in the maxim, "from each according to his ability to each according to his needs" Thank you for watching and see you next time. If you have any questions please post them in the comments or send me a PM. Also subscribe for more videos in the future.