What is Socialism, When Did It Appear?

Setting up a state, especially managing it, is a very difficult task. For this reason, many different political theories have been put forward throughout history and many fields, especially economics, have been tried to be organized accordingly. One of these theories is socialism. Socialism, which is seen as a utopian dream by some, In fact, it is an idea that has been practiced in many countries but has not been widely disseminated.

Socialism as a concept is quite new, but when we get to its roots, this path goes back to Plato. There are actually many different opinions about what it is because it has been enriched with many different ideas and modified by different tendencies since the day it emerged. Bride What is socialism in its simplest form? Let’s take a closer look and see when it came out in all its details.

Let’s start with a brief definition; What is socialism?

socialism, derived from the Latin word sociare; It can be defined as a kind of political theory, doctrine and ideology. According to socialism, the means of production belong to the society and the workers must participate directly in the management. In socialism, which encourages public production instead of private production, concepts such as joint ownership, state ownership, cooperative enterprise form the basis of this theory.

So when did socialism appear?

Although not exactly as we know it today, it is actually the first example of socialism. It appears in Plato’s work The Republic, written in the 4th century BC. The understanding of the state described here, with its many features, reveals a rough example of the concept of socialism, if not fully.

Another example we encounter with socialism is Utopia written by Thomas More in 1535. Because Utopia is a novel, not a political book. in fact, it offers its readers a fictional example of what a society in which socialism is practiced would be.

Of course, these are the details of the work, the use of socialism as the main term appears in 1827. This is how the English reformer Robert Owen named those who adopted his ideas. It is possible to see a similar use in the French Saint-Simon in 1832. The term quickly spread, with some groups describing themselves as socialist or anti-socialist.

Socialism has some key features:

• The productive and basic power is labor.
• There is no need for an employer, workers or the state take on this task.
• The economy is determined with a central plan.
• The public interest comes first.
• Representative democracy is not accepted because it divides the working class.

Although socialism has been enriched with many different views after the 19th century, when it emerged as a term, It basically has these features. When it first came out, many socialists said to let it go and focus on workers’ problems, and saw it as a war against industrial capitalism.

For some socialists, unions and parties had to be formed to improve working conditions. Some socialists think that this change will not happen in the current order. advocated a revolution. Many factions that continue to exist even today were actually formed by the diversification of this division that started at that time.

How about a socialist state? Here are some stages of socialism:

• The means of production are nationalized and the private sector is excluded.
• All private sectors, including foreigners, are nationalized.
• The concept of private property disappears.
• All property is given to citizens free of charge.
• All basic services and needs are offered to citizens free of charge.
• All expropriated services are used free of charge by the public.

If you currently own a home, shop or company, these items may give you goosebumps. This is exactly what happened when socialism first emerged, and In the 19th century, socialists were literally excluded from society. According to them, they were defending the welfare of the society, but the dominant powers and a large part of the society were against this idea.

Of course, as we said, socialism has been enriched and changed with many different views over the years. For example China is also a socialist state, but It is open to private sector and foreign capital. For this reason, it is criticized by different socialist groups and is the target of different accusations.

So, what exactly does socialism stand for?

The subject may be a bit confused, so it is useful to give some details. Socialism is based on an economic system. In this system, which we can call a kind of socioeconomic model, the power of the working class is defended. In other words, socialism says that if there are workers who produce, why are there employers; If the workers are the basis of everything, why is the management not in the hands of the workers?

Even though there are different theories, socialism advocates a kind of collective consciousness. Let’s organize, produce together and manage together. In particular, according to socialism, which completely opposes the operation of foreign capital in a country, the working class should be the absolute dominant power over all means of production.

Is Karl Marx the founder of socialism?

Karl Marx is the founder of scientific socialism, that is, the person who put forward the theory that socialism should be applied within the framework of certain rules. However, as we mentioned above Socialism existed before Marx. Marx and similar philosophers are actually the people who gave birth to the enrichment ideas we are talking about.

To talk about the real founders of socialism, we can mention names such as Robert Owen, Charles Fourier, William Morris, Saint-Simon, Pierre Leroux, J. Regnaud. In the following years, he made a socialist revolution in his country. It is possible to consider names such as Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito, Kim Il Sung not as founders of socialism, but as developers.

Are there still countries ruled by socialism?

The issue of countries governed by socialism is somewhat complicated. If we look at the official Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, China, Bangladesh, Guyana, India, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Portugal, Nepal, Syria and even North Korea are countries ruled by socialism. Of course, it is debatable how appropriate the practices are for socialism.

Okay, so what’s the difference between socialism and communism?

Karl Marx best describes the relationship between socialism and communism. According to him, socialism is the first step of communism. Socialism is a system that can be applied on the basis of states, communism is a system in which socialism spreads all over the world. Communism is actually the dream of a world where the whole world is socialist and there are no classes. A world without states, borders, classes, nations, religions, bosses; that’s what communism is.

He said that the management and the means of production should be in the hands of the working class. What is socialism, what does it stand for, when did it appear We answered frequently asked questions such as: Of course, when you dive into socialism, it is like the ocean as you will easily get lost, but in this article, we aimed to provide basic information only to our readers who are introduced to socialism for the first time.