What is the difference between marxism and socialism

At its most basic, communism is a philosophy based on the equitable distribution of wealth among a nation's citizens and common ownership of all property. In particular, it called for the control of the means of production, such as manufacturing and agriculture, by the working class, or proletariat.

Its ultimate goal was achieving a classless society, at which point the state or government would "wither away. Contemporary communism is an offshoot of socialism and is sometimes called revolutionary socialism for advocating the takeover of governmental powers by the working class through revolution rather than incremental reform.

Socialism encompasses a broader spectrum of political beliefs but shares communism's emphasis on a fair if not necessarily equal distribution of wealth among citizens, as well as public ownership of the means of production though not necessarily all of them.

In that sense, socialist programs and policies can exist alongside capitalism in a society, which is less likely in a true communist system.

Socialists may or may not see a communist system as their end goal. Although modern communism is considered a type of socialism, many of its ideas are actually older.

The concept of the communal ownership of property, for example, can be traced back to ancient times. The philosophy they laid out is often referred to as Marxism. Engels dismissed socialism as a middle-class movement led by "social quacks who, by all manner of tinkering, professed to redress, without any danger to capital and profit, all sorts of social grievances.

Marx and Engels traced the inequality of their day to the Industrial Revolution that began in the 18th century, arguing that the mechanization of production had exacerbated social inequality, dividing society into two classes: those who owned the means of production and possessed wealth the bourgeoisie and the workers who were at their economic mercy the proletariat.

To address the problem, they prescribed a system in which the workers themselves "take the control of industry and of all branches of production," along with the abolition of private property and "the communal ownership of goods. Following the Russian revolution of , Vladimir Lenin, leader of the victorious Bolsheviks, expanded on the principles of Marxism, as did Lenin's eventual successor, Joseph Stalin.

Their ideas evolved into Marxism-Leninism, which, rather than seeing the state wither away, called for rule by a single political party.

That was the system that governed the Soviet Union until its collapse in In addition, a number of other nations have communist parties that participate, to varying degrees, in the political process. Like Marxism, modern socialism arose in the 19th century in response to the Industrial Revolution and what many perceived to be the excesses of capitalism. Instead of the individualism encouraged by a capitalist system, it emphasized the "collective good," or collectivism. It grew out of ideas about redistribution of wealth that developed during the Enlightenment and revolutionary movements of the 18th century.

Among its leading proponents on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was Robert Owen, himself a prosperous, Welsh-born owner of textile mills. Some early socialists including Owen, often referred to as utopian socialists, created communities based on shared property in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States. One well-known American example was the Shakers, a Protestant sect formed in England that established settlements throughout the eastern and Midwestern U.

Adherents who still called themselves socialists maintained their gradualist approach, while communists urged more aggressive action. From the 19th century on, socialist principles have had an influence on public policy in Great Britain, France, and other countries—in particular through laws aimed at protecting workers' rights, including the right to form trade unions and bargain collectively.

Social democracy is a strain of socialism that allows capitalism to exist but attempts to reign in its excesses through regulation while also addressing inequality through government-run social programs. It gained ground after World War II, in part as a response to the economic failures and brutal governance of the Stalin-era Soviet Union. Countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden are examples of social democracies, and many social welfare programs in the United States and elsewhere might also be seen as social democratic initiatives.

Countries that combine both socialism and capitalism in this way are sometimes referred to as having mixed economies. In some countries where socialism has not taken hold as the official form of government, political parties such as the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Labour Party in the United Kingdom exert large influence.

Communism has never gained much of a foothold in the United States, although the Communist Party USA, founded in , has run candidates for public office over the years. But much of that law has since been repealed, and the party remains in existence. Socialism has fared better but has also had its ups and downs. Numerous socialists have been elected to positions as mayors and several have been elected members of Congress.

Eugene V. This triggers off a conflict between the working class and the ownership class. Marx believed that the working class would overthrow the ruling class by violent class struggle and establish a classless society. Under the Communist system, production and land are owned by the government. The collective output produced by the workers is redistributed among them. Socialists believe that a peaceful phase-wise transition from capitalism to socialism is possible without demolishing the old structure of the state.

The party in power can make good use of the existing capitalist system for the benefit of the working class. This will start the process of gradual elimination of the capitalists as a class and pave the way towards establishment of a classless society. Socialism accommodates different political systems such as participatory democracy and parliamentary democracy.

Ideologically, Marxism does not recognize and accommodate any other system. According to it, people are the ultimate authority in matters of governance. In a socialist setup, personal property such as house and car are owned by the individual.

Public property such as factory and production are owned by the State but controlled by workers. Communism does not at all recognize individual ownership of property.

In socialist system, means of production are owned by public enterprises or cooperatives. The surplus value of production is enjoyed by all members of society on the principle of individual contribution. In a Marxist setup, means of production are commonly owned and individual ownership is abolished. Socialism is a modern doctrine and is Western in origin, emerging with the development of industrial capitalism at the start of the nineteenth century.

Socialism denotes a broad system of ideas. Marxism is a materialistic conception of history which seeks to explain the development of all societies and furthermore, make predictions about future social change. Marxists consider the material world, nature and society as constantly moving. Whereas, the socialists emphasise the organic unity of society. Marxists consider the material world as an integrated whole in which all things and phenomena are interconnected and interdependent.