Socialism is a word that leaves a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. When people describe socialism, they seem to refer to the massive state bureaucracies that we saw developed under the Soviet/Stalinist leaderships of history. So, Sweden is called socialist, because they offer their citizens a wide safety net to deflect the forces that cause poverty.
However, for a long time I lived under the impression that the goal of socialism was to break down power structures. Not NECESSARILY to hand over the control of capital and the means of production to the state, but to break down the barriers that exist between workers and their means of production. So, in my mind, socialism is linked with trade unionism, or an enhanced power of the trade union, which is an institution, or are institutions, that exist outside the state. In other words, "Socialism: handing the means of production to the state, or democratizing the workplace?"
2007-06-20
13:45:56
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