Socialism; An Overview

Muh. Sholihin
(Novelist| An Independent Researchers of Islamic Economics)

Some people think you can change the world without taking power. No, they argue, you must not even think about trying to make use of the state.

--Michael A. Lebowitz--

COMMUNISM is the socialism ultimate goal—society without class. It is real socialism. The Indicators of real socialism are self-realization or welfare, political influence, social status (E. Roemer, 1994). Those are the true of communism. In other hand, it can be seen that the object of communism is very different with capitalism object. If communism effort to blew down the old regime—capitalism class—to build the new regime—goverment by proletariat, capitalism stay on individualism—from individu to individu. To undestand framework and contents of socialism, it is important to describe the indicator of real socialism.

According to E. Roemer (1994) that self-realization is the development and aplication of an individual’s talents in a way that gives meaning of life. It means that everyone—individual, or group—can be named as actual person if the life, which is done, gives the meaning for self and actualize individual’s talents. It is really a spefically marxist conception of human flourishing (1994: 11). Study deeply, it bring to understand the philosophical core which is being reason for marxist conception of human flourishing. Exactly, it is a representation from human needs to get happiness and comfortable in the life. As which was said by John Rawl’s notion that to real life, or life plan every one must be in ejoying one’s family and friend, eating fine meals, and counting blades of grass. Simply, the quality life is depend on happiness and getting chance to actualize individual’s talent.

Other character is political influence. Indeed, socialism is not only framework in getting self-realization but also values in political system. This one can be seen from socialism doctrine that the object of socialism is to transform a regime base on  socialism interest--to end capitalism class. In application, political influences have some ways to construct a political socialism system. First, constitued the majority of society. Collective values establish a fixed character in society which produces egalitarian people. They are easy going to class existance in social structure. All are one—peasants, traders, and labours. Second, produced the wealth of society. Economic resources by state—nationalization. In state mind, the prosperity cannot spread with market mechanism, but only realize with state intervention. State exactly distributed the all of economic sources and is not any one which can master dominantly economic sources.

In the end real character of socialism is status social. It means that socialism makes egalitarianis famous as a great value in socialism structure. The philosopical reason why status social is a indicator for real socialism is that social status come from abolishing private ownership as againts to capitalism. Marxist, who is popularizing socialism as economic-political system, views that core of explotation in economic activities is because of private ownership in capitalism system and was believed a good solution for human desirable.  However, the question is what socialism success today?   

Measure Socialist Ideas Success

            Wrote Ludwig Von Mises that socialism is the watchword and the catchword of our day. The socialist idea dominates the modern spirit. The masses approve of it, it express the thoughts and feelings of all; it has set its seal upon our time. When history comes to tell our story it will write above the chapter The Epoch of Socialism (Mises, 1959). Socialism exactly isnot success to become a world structure—economic system. But it easy sees that socialism in many state, especially in depeloved country becomes a spirit influencing the world, today. How it is be proved?

Ludwig van Mises attested to that socialism has not created a society which can be said to represent its ideal. But for more than a generation the policies of civilized nations have been directed towards nothing less than gradual realization of socialism (1959, 25). Actually, in recent years, many nations have sought to achieve socialism, in its fullest sense, at a single stroke (1959). Russian Bolshevism is a nation where socialism  was proved still life. That it is be strong  wasnot because of Soviets’ artillery and machine-guns but the fact which whole world receives its ideal sympathetically. The sympatic ideal appearing in the several nations—Rusia—had shown that the world today isnot in good condition—bad competition among nations, capitalism hegemony, and economic war. Lately, the world society had felt bad economic system born by capitalism. Social-economic gap, and new-colonialism expanded into the third; it is not realized by many people. However, the bad feeling was slowly realized by them feeling that conditions. In moderation, if socialism in modern world becomes a spirit for most of people bearing witness to desctruction caused by individualism spirit thaught by capitalism.

Interestingly, the socialism spirit spreading in some nations is only abstract values and not as real system of economic. Even so, it is a great thing for lack political system as socialism. Called as lack political system, in the socialism history, that socialism had been defeated since the cold war in the middle of 19s. Since the time, socialism was only as defeated-system and hadnot had attractive energy to construct world economics. In addition, several people had been named that condition by the dead of socialism. Inversely, even so modernist, who never believe or is doubt with capitalism, looked for old spirit which was lost when capitalism masters widely the life. Socialism spirit was found and afterwards becomes critical awareness.

Shortly, the socialism history is ploletarian history. It is ever becoming a patronage for class histories, when communism regime had mastered several of nation—Rusia, Chinese, Vietnam—but in the line time, capitalism regime had eliminated socialism in world economic structure—free market regime, liberal economics, anti-protectionism, and non-interventionism. It makes hubbub. Many nations—Rusia, Chinese, and North Korea, finally, they recover socialism and make it as a economic and political system. Simply, today in several countries, socialism is being an idealism and latent spirit.[]