Is it now time for a new age of Socialism?

Question

With the massive inequalities in our society today with a tiny elite living obscenely privellaged lives with most ordinary people living in poverty is it now time for a new system. It is the workers who build and run goods and services and it should be the workers who reap the benefits of their work, not some suit wearing corporate board member who does nothing but go to conferences and drinks champagne. Wealth should be redistributed to bring impoverished out of poverty and build a fairer society. Rich business people should no longer be allowed to control the political system by funding and bribing corrupt politicians. The working class should seize control of the country and govern it in the interests of the people, not in the interests of elite sponsors and businessmen in the way the governemt is run today

Answer 1

There are a few issues to deal with before socialism can be properly applied. See, the problem of past socialist societies is that they could not rid themselves of the structures which make capitalism undesirable. After all, without greedy elites and a blood-thirsty war machine, capitalism would be almost desirable. That they could not dispose of totalitarianism in the face of real existential threats posed by the US is understood, even when this fact served as an excuse for some.
The issues that a person inclined to socialism must understand is that there are pre-requisites for the proper functioning of a socialist society. If such pre-requisites are not met, socialist governments are forced into the ridiculous role of coercing their population into otherwise desirable actions such as literacy and medical campaigns.
Socialism asks much of its denizens, and therefore it is not a state that should be entered into unwillingly. Democratic government and universal political literacy (that is competent knowledge of history and government given freely to all who desire it) are necessary BEFORE socialism can be truly sought.
Here's the paradox. The necessary preparations that a society must achieve to become useful members in a socialist society (mainly a capacity to think abstractly) are not possible under capitalism. Capitalism is dedicated to keeping a large sector of the population under educated in order to have a steady rate of unemployment (which any economist will agree, keeps wages down). Capitalism is dedicated to keeping many people poor so that a few may enjoy outstanding luxury.
What does it all mean? It means that there are two ways of reaching a desirable socialist state (read a democratic socialist state), through revolution and through evolution. That is, either a cadre of revolutionaries takes it as their role to spread the message that poverty must end or we can, less dramatically, infiltrate all sectors of society and spread the message that poverty must end.
In revolutionary action, the cadre surrounds itself with legions of visible partisans and dedicates itself to competing with the Bad Government on every front. The population must be made aware that an option exists and that action must be taken. In order to do this, the revolutionary cadre must involve itself with literacy drives, with bringing doctors to the poor, free breakfast programs, community radio and TV, cultural events and demonstrations.
It is also important to disassociate the cadre from the Bad Government. Cooperatives are a helpful way of doing this while involving the community and teaching them the benefits of owning the means of production. Workshops, libraries and study centers we cannot do without. It is also important to demonstrate that social welfare reduces crime and that the real instigator of crime if the Bad Government.
It is important to learn from the Bad Government. Surveillance is key, every member of the cadre should always have cam recorders handy in order to catch the ad Government when it tries to attack the cadre. Can you imagine if Sean Bell had had a camera? He would have not been killed. Non-violence is key, until you are under attack.
Eventually people will make the decision to support the party that offers them more. It is important to demonstrate through actions that the Bad Government helps only itself.
The evolutionary path, while most desirable requires patience. It is an issue specific path. Bad Government won't fund your schools, sue them. Bad Government conducting genocide? protest, boycott. Bad Government not working, campaign for alternative candidate. DO good in society and become a teacher, a social worker or a doctor and offer help to those in need. Hope eventually to chip away enough power from the Bad Government that it can be forced to do good.
There is an array of choices between the revolutionary and evolutionary paths to socialism. Most importantly, the socialist needs to stress his non-violent and democratic conviction. Socialists must be held accountable to the democratic tradition. It is more important to conserve history than it is to achieve radical change.
In the mean time i recommend reading Black Panther literature, their Self-Defense points and the such, accompanied with a bit of Marx, Mao and Lenin. It is also important to recognize that it is undesirable to have a centrally commanded economy and that many aspects of Market Economics are spot on. The free market needs to be encouraged but only to the benefit of the small producer. Also important is to delude ourselves that Marxist theory is infallible, the abolition of private property is neither rational nor useful and it pisses off people at large.
At the end of the day the failures of the Bad Government are the true incentives to socialism. Knowing that it is the most desirable system, the socialist must sttruggle to work for a functioning democracy. The people will, or will not, decide to follow socialism, but the Bad Government will be neutered.
At the end of the day what is important is that people rule their own destinies, if that is not the reason you advocate socialism then it is not socialism you advocate.
Also, be flexible. Dogmatism never got us anywhere. Read Trotsky as well as Friedman (even if the boredom hurts) and study Castro as well as Gustavo Gutierrez. Advocate separation of church and state while demonstrating that the principles of good government are the principles of true religion.
I have no doubt in my mind Jesus was a socialist. Read the Sermon on the Mount and check out the tactics of Hizbullah, Hamas and the Mehdi army. Also look into the Algerian NLF and the S. Vietnamese NLF. Popularity is the road to power. Keep people happy and we will have good government.
Yo and power to the people!

edit: Non-Violence is key. Violence is mostly counterproductive. The eventual goal of any socialist must be an international regime that abolishes violence. It is not important whether classlessness is achieved. It is most important to have a society in which competition is reserved to hard work rather than violence. If such a society ends up divided between ambitious people and the less ambitious is not a concern. What must be done away is the power of incompetent elites to keep power by violently oppressing the poor. Violence is the tool of the bad government, not of the socialist.
That is not to say, always give the other cheek. Give it once or twice, because martyrs always help the cause. If existential threats abound, realize that once you become violent everything is tainted. Violent revolutionaries are like Moses, they help and point the way but they can never get us there.

Answer 2

Easier said than done. Although the government can prevent people from starving on the streets it is much more difficult to redistribute wealth.

In the US, the top 10% of the population owns 70% of the assets. That leaves the remaining 90% of the population with roughly 30% of the assets. The gap between rich and poor is widening.

Americans work harder for not much more money, the middle class is struggling and more people are falling into poverty. There are no easy, or even practical, solutions.

In the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and part of the 1970s, the rising economy benefited everyone but now that is no longer the case. Labor is not benefiting from the economic increases. It is not practical for the government to mandate salary increases especially with the appealing prospects of globalization that can provide corporations with cheaper labor.

Answer 3

I could not agree with you more! But, we would have to make absolutely certain, that no corrupt elite will be able to take the power from the people ever again. Fool proof safeguards would have to be put in place. in order to insure that greed could never again be the order of the day! The motto should be, take what you NEED, and leave the rest! I think you might really enjoy reading the Conversations with God trilogy, by Neale Donald Walsch. These three books really go into detail about the specifics of what such an ideal society would be like, and how it would work. They are awesome, and after you finish them, you may want to go on and read all his other books....but read the first three first! LZ

Answer 4

Heres what i wrote on a similar question. The answer is that young people can change the world, they want the world to be perfect for everyone, a world without without war or hunger. This is shown in many youth movements around the world, especially in the 60's & 70's. Unfortunately the older people get the less they believe that the world can become a better place and would rather themselves be as rich and influential as possible while letting 1/3rd of the world live in poverty. Yes, i am a youth, yes, i support it (obviously), but who can blame me for wanting to make the world a better place for everyone?

Answer 5

Socialism will never work and I have no desire to live in a place where there is no motivation to advance.
There does need to be a balance between Socialism and Nationalist or Federalist. Less is more not the other way around. It is approaching time to bring it down and build it up again

Answer 6

Not the answer my friend! You need to do some more homework on this topic! It may sound good that no one would have more than the next but it isn't that simple! The government gets all of the wealth in a socialistic country! Everyone else is poor! They have a dictator & not an elected leader.

Answer 7

If we became socialist then I couldn't use my charm, good looks, & intelligence to become a rich lawyer & feel smug knowing I'm better than others. Besides... with all the stereotyping of whites owning immigrant houseworkers I know I gotta get in on that before the immigrants take us over

Answer 8

Nice idea, but I think you will find that all attempts at what you suggest in the past and now were/are riddled with corruption, and they all have a leadership that is much much better off than the rest. What is the point of being in charge if you can't have a few luxuries ?

Answer 9

We need to enforce the laws we have and make new laws with some teeth to fix the problem, not install a new government system.

Answer 10

Actually, since 1991, the poor's incomes from salaries and wages have grown faster than any other quintile.

You Socialists make me chuckle. How many countries does Socialism have to make poor before you guys learn not to touch a hot stove?