The 5 differences between socialism and communism

These two concepts explain much of what has happened politically and ideologically in the world.

Both communism and socialism are two of the most relevant concepts in the history of the last three centuries. In fact, a large part of the political, military and economic events that have taken place in this period have to do with the frictions between socialism and capitalism.

On the other hand, both socialism and communism inform us about social phenomena and ideologies. social phenomena and ideologies in which a good part of the world's population participates. That is why it is important to know well what they consist of.

In this article we will see what are the differences between socialism and communism..

Differences between communism and socialism

In many aspects they are similar, but they are not synonyms and we must be careful not to confuse them with each other. In any case, we must bear in mind that we will talk about what is historically understood by socialism and communism, which does not mean that this coincides with the positions of parties that currently call themselves socialist.

Many of these are not socialist despite having the word in their name, since they have experienced a drift that has led them to keep their acronyms simply to appeal to an electoral base that used to support them. In part, the term "socialism" is used under a marketing and image logic, simply because there are a lot of people whosimply because there are many people who feel socialist.

That said, in a nutshell, the differences between communism and socialism are the following.

They belong to different temporal moments 2.

Socialism and communism can be understood as two stages of a political and production project: first comes socialism, and then comes communism. That is to say, in temporal terms they are mutually exclusive.In other words, in temporal terms they are mutually exclusive, although according to socialist theorists, in order to arrive at communism it is first necessary to defend a socialist program. We will see the reason for this in the next point.

2. One has opposing classes, the other does not

In socialism the concept of social class is of great importance.. A social class is a collective of people that is defined by the relationship they have with the means of production. That is to say, it is not the same to have to earn money working for others than to possess resources that make it possible for others to work for oneself: factories, farmland, etc.

Thus, socialism creates a context in which there continue to exist opposing social classes, but this time the party that dominates the other is the one that was originally forced to sell its labor power without speculating.

In communism, on the other hand, there are no longer social classes, since there is no one who privately possesses the means of production, since these have been collectivized.means of production, since these have been collectivized. This makes it impossible to be in a situation of superiority by being able to exploit people forced to work for others.

3. They have different redistributive principles

Both socialism and communism can be understood as models of production and as a social and political movement. In this last aspect, both give great importance to the redistribution of goods, but they do not propose the same thing.

While socialism works under the motto "from each according to his ability, to each according to his effort," communism revolves around the motto. "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.". That is to say, in communism it is assumed that one is already in a situation in which it is relatively simple to cover the needs of all people, while in socialism there are limitations that prevent that, so when it comes to prioritize the way in which redistribution takes much account of the effort.

4. The role attributed to the state

Historically, socialism has been divided in its conception of the state. While Marxist-rooted socialists defend that the State cannot disappear in a short period of time, others, associated with anarchism, defend the abolition of the State, so that it disappears with a single "movement". However, both currents believe that the aim of socialism is to to make the State disappear.

Communism, on the other hand, is a situation in which the State does not exist. From the point of view of communists, the State is simply a machinery that concentrates the power to impose political and economic measures in favor of one social class and against the other, so it must be forcibly absent in the goal pursued.

5. One opens the possibility of a centralized economy, the other does not.

In socialism it is possible to make everything that happens in the economy be regulated from a single from a single instance, although there are also socialists who defend decentralization.

In communism, on the other hand, there is no entity strong enough to significantly alter the economy, since the state has disappeared.