I am in need of help,Can someone tell me the main similarities and differences between Socialism and Communism

Question

I have been assigned a paper on , Socialism Vs Communism, and I have to find the main differences and similarities between the two. I really have no clue what they are! Can somebody out there help me out?

Doesn't there have to be some differences..if not I don't see how my teacher thinks there is?

I am getting good answers, but I could use some more specific similarities than just, "They are both really the same thing". Same goes with the differences. Keep it up though, you guys are helping a ton.

Answer 1

There's a saying that's supposed to help you remember the difference between the two that goes something like this: in Socialism, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his deeds," and in Communism, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." The critical difference being the words 'deeds' and 'needs.'

So in a nutshell:
Pure Capitalism: All resources, corporations, banks, etc. are private and subject to the open market.

Socialism: The means of production (like resources, banks, and corporations) are nationalized (i.e. run by the government), but people's wages are determined in a similar manner to Capitalism. You will get paid more if you needed more years of school, have more skills, etc.

Communism: All means of production are nationalized and people are paid strictly according to their needs (primarily determined by family size).

It would be fair to say that Capitalism (purely private) and Communism (purely public) are on opposite sides of the economic spectrum, with Socialism lying in the middle.

Answer 2

The main difference between socialism and communism is that socialism recognizes private ownership of means of production when communism accepts just collective/cooperative ownership. In socialism you can own a factory, hire workers to work for you and pocket the profit. Of course taxes will be pretty high and workers will be protected under the law. In communism, you can own some part of cooperative property only if you work over there yourself, but you not allowed to hire anyone to work for you (except domestic help). In general, you can’t pocket the profit if you don’t produce. Workers can share the profits, but there is no investor profits. All other indicators, such as size of government or level of control are secondary, and in most cases are not related to communism, socialism or capitalism. There were communist dictators (North Korea), there were capitalist dictators (Chile). Do you think that Sadam Hussein was a communist?

Answer 3

Socialism is about society choosing how property and wealth are to be used, with an emphasis on decisions which benefit as many people as possible. Communism is one of the many branches of socialism, there the decision is to own property and means of production communally.

So a socialist country might decide to nationalize the infrastructure (any or all of: rail, road, air travel, oil or gas production, health care, education, etc.). That way all collective monies can be spent on core needs, with none of it going to shareholder profits or CEO salaries. It might decide that there should be limits to how wide the gap between highest and lowest wages can be, or set taxes which attempt to close the gap.

An idealised communist system would have no real need for money because everyone's needs would be provided by the system, with everyone contributing labour and skills as they can. All resources would of course be held in common.

Bottom line though, socialism seeks to avoid the exploitation of people's work and a country's resources for the benefit of a few. Capitalism is all about using money to get more money, power and control. Socialism says that we all do better when those resources are more evenly divided throughout society.

Answer 4

There is a difference. Under communism there is no private property, and people voluntarily share goods. Economic class warfare also ceases to exist under communism. There are no communist countries today.

Socialism is where there is state ownership of the means of production. For Marxists, socialism is the historical stage before communism.

Answer 5

socialism:
a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Communism:
a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

Pretty much the same thing!

Answer 6

Try this " Dictionary of Modern Politics" by David Robertson. One of the best in my opinion.

Answer 7

As I understand it Socialism is just a milder component of Communism. I guess that means Socialists are alittle less likely to shoot you for disagreeing, I don't know.

Answer 8

yes, just like brother and sister.Russia used to be Socialism, Now it's Communism, like Cuba!!

Answer 9

Same thing..No difference