Socialism

• Marx (revolutionary)

  • “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”
  • our good human nature is corroded by capitalism = loss of meaningful bins between human that should hold society together
  • “dictatorship of the proletariat” = would be necessary to protect against counter-revolution in the aftermath of a revolution
  • religion is a tool used by the powerful; helps keep the proletariat suppressed
  • capitalists extracts the maximum level of surplus value (i.e. profit) from workers; due to the existence of a reserve army of labour
• Beatrice Webb (evolutionary socialist)

  • “matters may be resolved sensibly… by rational, educated and civic-minded officials”
  • the state should be expanded rather than overthrown
  • humanity needs to gradually guided back to its original cooperative condition
  • high level of worker’s control within businesses
  • an early thinker on the need for welfare state (via her Minority Report paper)
  • gradual change is preferable to the bloodshed and chaos caused by revolutionary socialism; there is an inevitability of gradualness
• Rosa Luxemburg (revolutionary socialist)

  • “freedom is how free your opponent is”
  • fraternity and altruism still flourish in working class communities, despite the oppression of capitalism
  • the proletariat dictatorship would be a problem (contrasts Marx’s perspective)
  • revolution would come about spontaneously through the workers
  • a capitalist economic system requires people to demand products beyond what they actually need
• Anthony Crosland (social democrat)

  • “what one generation sees as a luxury, the next generation sees as a necessity”
  • human nature has a powerful sense of fairness and an innate objection to huge inequalities of outcome
  • socialists must adapt to new circumstances (evolutionary not revolutionary)
  • the state is responsible for delivering both a greater equality of opportunity and greater equality of outcome
  • focused on ending poverty via comprehensive education, the welfare state, social housing etc.
  • hates grammar school
• Anthony Giddens (third way)

  • “welfare system should be restricted in order to give people a hand-up, not hand-out”
  • human nature has been shaped by changing socio-economic conditions
  • welfare recipients should be active rather
  • New labour figure Peter Madelson ( cabinet minister in Blair's government) - like Anthony Giddens this shows acceptance of the free market and the states role as social investment in infrastructure and education.
  • Free market as most effective and efficient economic system ‘get used to it’
  • Capitalism is corrosive but too well established to be removed