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Frequently
Asked
Questions (FAQ) About Socialism and the World Socialist Movement
- Isn't
socialism what they had in Russia, or in China or Cuba, or in Sweden?
-
No.
Socialism, as understood by
the World Socialist Movement, was never established in any country. A
short definition of what we understand to be socialism:
a
system of society
based upon the common ownership and democratic control of the means and
instruments for producing and distributing wealth by and in the
interest of society as a whole.
- If
there are wages and
salaries, it is not socialism.
- State
ownership is not
socialism.
- Social
programs are not
socialism.
- Socialism
means democracy at
all levels of society, including the workplace.
- Socialism
means a wageless,
moneyless society.
- Socialism
means voluntary
labour.
- Socialism
means free access to
the goods produced by society.
With this
understanding of
socialism, the Socialist Party of Great Britain noted in its journal,
the Socialist Standard (August 1918, page 87),
that the supposedly "Marxist" Russian Revolution of November 1917 was
not socialist.
- Next question
- Wouldn't
everyone have to be
altruistic for socialism to work?
Previous question
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is your leader?
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