socialism

Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which the means of production are collectively owned but a completely classless society has not yet been achieved.

Specifically, in Germany, legislation, supported by Prince Bismarck, intended to improve the condition of the working-man. Among the measures included were the insurance of workmen against accident, sickness, and old age, and the establishment of cooperative associations under state protection.

Any theory or system of social organization which would abolish, entirely or in great part, the individual effort and competition on which modern society rests, and substitute for it coöperative action, would introduce a more perfect and equal distribution of the products of labor, and would make land and capital, as the instruments and means of production, the joint possession of the members of the community.

that Christianity should be directly applied to the ordinary business of life, and that in view of this the present system of competition should give place to coöperative associations both productive and distributive, where all might work together as brothers;

that any outer change of the laborer’s life, as aimed at in most socialistic schemes, would not suffice to settle the labor question, but that there must be an inner change brought about by education and elevation of character, especially through Christianity; and

that the aid of the state should not be invoked further than to remove all hostile legislation. A similar scheme appeared somewhat earlier in France. The doctrines of Christian socialism, or similar doctrines under the same name, have been frequently advocated in the United States.

A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless, revolutionary social scheme. See communism, Fourierism, saint-simonianism, forms of socialism.

a term applied about 1872, at first in ridicule, to a group of German political economists who advocated state aid for the betterment of the working classes.

Any of various economic and political philosophies that support social equality, collective decision-making, distribution of income based on contribution and public ownership of productive capital and natural resources, as advocated by socialists.