can i get some help?

[Speed of Sound]

I need to know the specific differences between Socialism and Communism. Can i get some help with this? im sick of being called a communist when im a socialist. Thanks for the help in advance!

[RJ]

Socialism is a less extreme form of Communism; the degree of which is in the eye of the beholder.

As far as being called a communist(or a socialist), relax. There are those who will call you anything in order to discredit you if you don't wholeheartedly agree with them. Many people who do this don't even have a clue what terms they're throwong around. I had someone tell me I was a communist because I think it's wrong that auto manufaturers lobbied to change the laws in order to prevent individuals from forming new car companies. "You have to have an original idea. Communists just don't understand that" I was told. What does being a commy have to do with original ideas? Since when is building a car an original idea?

People label other people. It just happens. It just sounds better to point the finger and say "commy" or "liberal" than it does to say "I'm right because..."

[Hatman 🍁]

I know how you feel, Lib. I hate it when people call me, the NDP or our SDP Socialist when we are really Social Democratic

[The Duke]

You feel strongly enough that you are a socialist and not a communist that you get mad when people call you a communist, but you can't explain the diffference between those two ideologies?

Or are you pretty clear on the difference and just want a concise way to say it?

My definition is that socialists believe workers had ought to control the means of production, while in communism property should be held communally.  In socialism, the workers in a factory would own the factory and be entitled to its profits.  In communism, the factory would be owned by the entire community, even those who are not laborers in the factory.

[TheresNoMoney]

The governments owns all property and controls production in a communist society.

[Richard]

I need to know the specific differences between Socialism and Communism. Can i get some help with this? im sick of being called a communist when im a socialist. Thanks for the help in advance!

"Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good."
- From The New Intellectual



"The essential characteristic of socialism is the denial of individual property rights; under socialism, the right to property (which is the right of use and disposal) is vested in 'society as a whole,' i.e., in the collective, with production and distribution controlled by the state, i.e., by the government. Socialism may be established by force, as in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - or by vote, as in Nazi (National Socialist) Germany. The degree of socialization may be total, as in Russia - or partial, as in England. Theoretically, the differences are superficial; practically, they are only a matter of time. The basic principle, in all cases, is the same."
- From "The Monument Builders"



"There is no difference between the principles, policies and practical results of socialism - and those of any historical or prehistorical tyranny. Socialism is merely democratic absolute monarchy - that is, a system of absolutism without a fixed head, open to seizure of power by all comers, by any ruthless climber, opportunist, adventurer, demagogue or thug. When you consider socialism, do not fool yourself about its nature. Remember that there is no such dichotomy as 'human rights' versus 'property rights.' No human rights can exist without property rights. Since material goods are produced by the mind and effort of individual men, and are needed to sustain their lives, if the producer does not own the result of his effort, he does not own his life. To deny property rights means to turn men into property owned by the state. Whoever claims the 'right' to 'redistribute' the wealth produced by others is claiming the 'right' to treat human beings as chattel."
- From "The Monument Builders"



"There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism - by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide."
- From "Foreign Policy Drains U.S. of Main Weapons"


"Both 'socialism' and 'fascism' involve the issue of property rights. The right to property is the right of use and disposal. Observe the difference in those two theories: socialism negates private property rights altogether, and advocates the 'vesting of ownership and control' in the community as a whole, i.e., in the state; fascism leaves ownership in the hands of private individuals, but transfers control of the property to the government. Ownership without control is a contradiction in terms: it means 'property,' without the right to use it or to dispose of it. It means that the citizens retain the responsibility of holding property, without any of its advantages, while the government acquires all the advantages without any of the responsibility. In this respect, socialism is the more honest of the two theories. I say 'more honest,' not better - because, in practice, there is no difference between them: both come from the same collectivist-statist principle, both negate individual rights and subordinate the individual to the collective, both deliver the livelihood and the lives of the citizens into the power of an omnipotent government - and the differences between them are only a matter of time, degree, and superficial detail, such as the choice of slogans by which the rulers delude their enslaved subjects."
- From "The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus"

[Richard]

The governments owns all property and controls production in a communist society.

And the government *may* own all property and controls in a socialist society.

[angus]

I need to know the specific differences between Socialism and Communism. Can i get some help with this? im sick of being called a communist when im a socialist. Thanks for the help in advance!

being as how you're going to call yourself one, you should at least be able to define socialist, I agree.

There's the Al difference, which seems chiefly to concern the role of religion in society.

There's the angus' 8th-grade teacher difference, which seems chiefly to concern the state and its relation to the means of production and distribution of goods and services.

There's the RJ difference. 

They are all correct, and John Ford and I apparently had similar social studies classes, because I agree with what he says, right down to the implied sarcasm.  When they give you a hard time, just say that you're not a communist and you're not anti-democratic, and in fact support socialism precisely because it gives the Worker the power.  (presumably you'll outgrow this philosophy, but until then that's the short answer.)

[??????????]

Socialism is simply the polite word for communism. Very little difference ideologically however.

[Speed of Sound]

You feel strongly enough that you are a socialist and not a communist that you get mad when people call you a communist, but you can't explain the diffference between those two ideologies?

Or are you pretty clear on the difference and just want a concise way to say it?

the second option.

[minionofmidas]

There is no concise definition of either that both its friends and its enemies on this forum would agree on.

[David S]

Someone once said that a socialist believes in a collectivist economic system and wants to bring it about through peaceful means. A communist wants the same thing but is willing to kill people to make it happen.

[A18]

Oh. So the communists are more merciful, then.