What is Socialism? How is it different to Communism?

Socialism is the early stage of Communism. Its establishment follows the revolutionary change of society and the economy from capitalism to socialism. Its main features are the taking of state power by the working class, the creation of new structures for the administration of society, social ownership and control of the resources and means of production of the country, and a planned, centralised economy.

Socialism is not just the election of a party or coalition promising some progressive reforms. Such governments have existed temporarily all over the capitalist world only to be overturned or undermined by sustained attacks from other pillars of the capitalist state. These include the police, the army, the courts, the media industrial complex, the boards of monopoly companies, the capitalist ideologists directing education, etc. A socialist revolution would seize control of those institutions, break them up, and create new democratic ones to serve the people’s needs.

As Socialism develops, becomes more abundant and people adopt a cooperative outlook more deeply, there is less need to control anti-social behavior. The state and its instruments for control can start to whither away. The distinctions between types of work have been broken down by the application of science and technology and classes have begun to disappear. At this point, humanity has arrived at the doorstep of Communism – a modern stateless, classless society.