Socialism

Socialism is a political, social, and economic philosophy that encompasses a variety of economic and social systems that are characterised by the social ownership of the means of production. System is a social, social, and economic philosophy that's also characterised by the social ownership of the means of production. In addition to such systems, it encompasses the political ideologies and movements that are linked with them. Social ownership may take the form of public, communal, cooperative, or equity ownership. While there is no one definition that encompasses the many different varieties of socialism, social ownership is the one thing that they all have in common. Depending on the position of markets and planning in allocation of resources, the structure of management in organisations, and whether approaches are taken from below or from above, socialists differ. Some socialists prefer a party-driven approach while others prefer a state-driven or technocratic-driven approach. Socialists are divided on whether government, and especially present government, is the most effective instrument for bringing about positive change.

Non-market socialist systems are distinguished from market socialist systems. Integrated economic planning and engineering or technical criteria based on calculations performed in-kind are substituted for factor markets and often money in non-market socialism, resulting in a different economic mechanism that operates according to different economic laws and dynamics than those of capitalism. A non-market socialist system seeks to eliminate the perceived inefficiencies, irrationalities, and unpredictability, as well as the crises, that socialists have traditionally associated with capital accumulation and the profit system in capitalism, as well as the crises that socialists have traditionally associated with capitalism. The socialist calculation argument, which was sparked by the economic calculation issue, is concerned with the viability of a planned socialist society as well as the techniques of resource distribution. For its part, market socialism maintains the use of monetary pricing and factor markets, as well as the profit incentive in certain situations, when it comes to the functioning of socially owned firms and the distribution of capital goods amongst them, in contrast to socialist communism. It is anticipated that profits created by these enterprises would be managed directly by the employees of each company or would flow to society as a whole in the form of a "social dividend." Anarchism and libertarian socialism are opposed to the employment of the state as a way of establishing socialism, and they advocate for decentralisation above all else, whether the goal is to build non-market socialism or market socialism.

Both internationalist and nationalist in orientation, socialist politics has been organised through political parties while also being opposed to party politics; at times overlapping with trade unions while at other times being independent and critical of them; and has been present in both industrialised and developing countries. Social democracy was born out of the socialist movement, and it is characterised by its support for economic and social measures that promote social fairness. With socialism as its solid goal, it has come to embrace a Keynesian mixed economy embedded within a predominantly developed capitalist market economy and liberal democratic polity, expanding state intervention to include income redistribution, regulatory oversight and a welfare state since the post-war period. Economic democracy offers a kind of market socialism in which enterprises, currencies, investments, and natural resources are more democratically controlled than they are now.