https://www.diffen.com/difference/Communism_vs_Socialism In a way, is an extreme form of . Many countries have dominant socialist political parties but very few are truly communist. In fact, most countries - including staunch capitalist bastions like the U.S. and U.K. - have government programs that borrow from socialist principles. Socialism is sometimes used interchangeably with communism but the two philosophies have some stark differences. Most notably, while communism is a political system, socialism is primarily an that can exist in various forms under a wide range of political systems. In this comparison we look at the differences between socialism and communism in detail. Comparison chart

Communism Socialism

Philosophy From each according to his ability, to From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. Free- each according to his contribution. access to the articles of consumption is Emphasis on profit being distributed made possible by advances in among the society or workforce to technology that allow for super- complement individual wages/salaries. abundance.

Key Elements Centralized government, planned , Collective economy, dictatorship of the ownership, common "proletariat", of ownership, the tools of production, no private , , property. equality between genders Free association, , and all people, international focus. Input–output model, Internationalism, Usually anti-democratic with a 1-party Labour voucher, Material balancing. system.

Political A is stateless, Can coexist with different political System classless and governed directly by the systems. Most socialists advocate people. This, however, has never been participatory democracy, some (Social achieved. In practice, they have been Democrats) advocate parliamentary totalitarian in nature, with a central democracy, and Marxist-Leninists party governing society. advocate "Democratic centralism."

Ideas All people are the same and therefore All individuals should have access to classes make no sense. The basic articles of consumption and public government should own all means of to allow for self-actualization. production and land and also Large-scale industries are collective everything else. People should work efforts and thus the returns from these Communism Socialism

for the government and the collective industries must benefit society as a output should be redistributed equally. whole.

Private Abolished. The concept of property is Two kinds of property: Personal Property negated and replaced with the concept property, such as houses, clothing, etc. of commons and ownership with owned by the individual. Public property "usership". includes factories, and owned by the State but with worker control.

Key , , Peter , François-Noël Babeuf, Proponents Kropotkin, , Henri de Saint-Simon, , , , , Louis Auguste Blanqui, , Joseph Stalin, Ho Chi William Thompson, , Minh, , , Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, , , , Fidel , Karl Marx, Friedrich Castro. Engels, Mikhail Bukinin.

Social All class distinctions are eliminated. A Class distinctions are diminished. Status Structure society in which everyone is both the derived more from political distinctions owners of the means of production and than class distinctions. Some mobility. their own employees.

Religion Abolished - all religious and Freedom of religion, but usually metaphysics is rejected. Engels and promotes secularism. Lenin agreed that religion was a drug or “spiritual booze” and must be combated. To them, atheism put into practice meant a “forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.

Economic Economic planning coordinates all Planned-socialism relies principally on Coordination decisions regarding investment, planning to determine investment and production and resource allocation. production decisions. Planning may be Planning is done in terms of physical centralized or decentralized. - units instead of . socialism relies on markets for allocating to different socially- owned enterprises.

Free Choice Either the collective "vote" or the Religion, jobs, & marriage are up to the state's rulers make economic and individual. Compulsory education. Free, political decisions for everyone else. equal access to healthcare & education In practice, rallies, force, propaganda provided through a socialized system etc. are used by the rulers to control funded by taxation. Production decisions the populace. driven more by State decision than consumer demand.

Definition International theory or system of A theory or system of social Communism Socialism

social organization based on the organization based on the holding of holding of all property in common, most property in common, with actual with actual ownership ascribed to the ownership ascribed to the workers. community or state. Rejection of free markets and extreme distrust of in any form.

Ownership The means of production are The means of production are socially- Structure commonly-owned, meaning no entity owned with the surplus value produced or individual owns productive accruing to either all of society (in property. Importance is ascribed to Public-ownership models) or to all the "usership" over "ownership". employee-members of the enterprise (in Cooperative-ownership models).

Discrimination In theory, all members of the state are The people are considered equal; laws considered equal to one another. are made when necessary to protect people from discrimination. Immigration is often tightly controlled.

Way of Government in a Communist-state is Workers in a are the Change the agent of change rather than any nominal agent of change rather than any market or desire on the part of market or desire on the part of consumers. Change by government consumers. Change by the State on can be swift or slow, depending on behalf of workers can be swift or slow, change in ideology or even whim. depending on change in ideology or even whim.

Political Marxist Communism, Leninism and , communism, Movements –Leninism, Stalinism, , social , Trotskyism, , Dengism, and . Prachanda Path, Hoxhaism, Titoism, Eurocommunism, Luxemburgism, Council communism, Left- Communism.

Economic The means of production are held in The means of production are owned by System common, negating the concept of public enterprises or , and ownership in capital goods. individuals are compensated based on Production is organized to provide for the principle of individual contribution. human needs directly without any use Production may variously be for money. Communism is predicated coordinated through either economic upon a condition of material planning or markets. abundance.

Variations Left Anarchism, Council , communism, state Communism, European Communism, socialism, . Juche Communism, Marxism, National Communism, Pre-Marxist Communism Socialism

Communism, Primitive Communism, Religious Communism, International Communism.

Examples Ideally, there is no leader; the people Union of Soviet Socialist Republics govern directly. This has never been (USSR): although the actual actually practiced, and has just used a categorization of the USSR's economic one-party system. Examples 0f system is in dispute, it is often Communist states are the erstwhile considered to be a form of centrally- Soviet Union, Cuba and North Korea. planned socialism.

Means of Theoretically there is no state control. Usage of a government. control

Earliest Theorized by Karl Marx and Frederick In 1516, write in "Utopia" Remnants Engels in the mid-19th century as an about a society based around common alternative to capitalism and ownership of property. In 1776, Adam feudalism, communism was not tried Smith advocated the labor theory of out until after the revolution in Russia value, ignoring the previous Cantillonian in the early 1910s. view that prices are derived from supply and demand.

Modern Recent far-left dictatorships include Modern examples of socialist countries Examples the USSR (1922-1991) and its sphere include China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam. throughout eastern Europe. Only five Countries like India, North Korea and nations presently have Communist Sri Lanka also refer to themselves as governments: China, North Korea, socialist in their constitution. Cuba, Laos and Russia.

History Major Communist parties include the Historic socialist examples include the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , the Strandha (1912-91), the Communist Party of Commune, Hungary, Romania and China (1921-ON), the Workers' Party Bulgaria; none continue to have of Korea (1949-ON), and the Communist governments. Communist Party of Cuba (1965-ON).

View of war Communists believe that war is good Opinions range from prowar (Charles for the economy by spurring Edward Russell, Allan L. Benson) to production, but should be avoided. antiwar (Eugene V. Debs, Norman Thomas). Socialists tend to agree with Keynesians that war is good for the economy by spurring production.

View of the Communism is an international Socialism is a movement of both the world movement; Communists in one worker and middle-class, all for a country see themselves in solidarity common democratic goal. with Communists in other countries. Communists distrust Nationalistic Communism Socialism

nations and leaders. Communists strongly distrust "big business."

Literature The Communist Manifesto, “Das The Communist Manifesto, “Das Kapital”, The State and Revolution, Kapital”, The State and Revolution, The The Jungle, Reform or Revolution, Jungle, Reform or Revolution, Capital Capital (Vol I: A Critical Analysis of (Vol I: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Capitalist Production), Socialism: Production), Socialism: Utopian and Utopian and Scientific, the Grapes of Scientific, the Grapes of Wrath. Wrath.

Disadvantages Historically, communism has always Socialism has hardly ever been fallen into single part control over successfully demonstrated, and never on society. This can be due to its basic a large scale. Human nature tends away structure of consolidating all the from egalitarian sharing and toward power and resources, but then they are private ownership. This foible will never never relinquished to the people. change.