Definition of Socialism:-
Socialism is an economic system where everyone in the society equally owns the factors of production, the factors of production are valued in relation to their usefulness to people. That ownership is acquired through a democratically elected government. Socialists take into account both individual needs and greater social needs.
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution.”
Karl Marx was a communist who introduced the concept of socialism. He felt that the industrial society belonged to the capitalists. Capitalists owned the capital invested in industries, but the profit was produced by workers. He believed that the condition of workers would never improve, as long as profit is taken by the capitalists. Marx believed that to free themselves from the capitalists’ exploitation, workers had to form a socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society.
Types of Socialism:- There are eight types of socialism.
Democratic Socialism: The means of production are managed by the working people, and there is a democratically elected government. Democratic planning is used for common goods, such as mass transit, housing, and energy, while the free market is allowed to produce and distribute consumer goods.
Market Socialism: Production is owned by the workers. They decide how to distribute among themselves. They could sell excess production on the free market.
Green Socialism: This type of socialistic economy highly values the maintenance of natural resources. Public ownership of large corporations achieves this. It also emphasizes public transit and locally sourced food. This kind of economy guarantees a livable wage for everyone.
Revolutionary Socialism: The factors of production are owned by the workers and managed by them through central planning. This kind of system or ideology will emerge only after capitalism has gone.
Libertarian Socialism: Once capitalism has been removed, people will naturally seek a socialist society that takes care of all, free of economic, political, or social structures. Libertarianism assumes that the basic nature of people as rational, autonomous, and self-determining.
The other three Socialism are Christian, Fabian & Utopian Socialism.
Advantages:-
In this ideology, workers own the mean of production. Profits are spread equitably among all workers according to their individual contributions. The system eliminates poverty, the system also provides for those who can’t work.
Everyone works at what one is best at and what one enjoys. But what happens if society needs jobs to be done that no one wants, in that case, it offers higher compensation to make it worthwhile for people to take them.
Disadvantages:-
Socialism doesn’t reward people for being entrepreneurial. It struggles to be as innovative as a capitalistic society. It relies on the cooperative nature of humans to work. It ignores those within society who are competitive and focus on personal gain. It pretends ‘Greed is Good’ doesn’t exist.
Another Big disadvantage it has that the government has a lot of power. This works as long as it represents the wishes of the people. But government leaders can abuse this position and claim power for themselves.
There aren’t any countries that have a complete socialism System, Few countries have mixed economies of Capitalism and Socialism.