I notice that there is a tendency to equate socialism with communism in certain parts of the world. But really, there are significant differences between them. Yes, this post is inspired by a podcast I listen to, but won’t link to. It’s one of those I follow to remain engaged with what the talking points are in groups I’m interested in. Purely for the purposes of stopping them gaining any significant power.
There are significant differences between socialism and communism. Seriously. I would happily describe myself a socialist, but not a communism. So let’s dive in.
What is socialism?
Now, the What Am Politics has a great episode on socialism, I’d highly recommend it. (They’ve stopped creating new episodes now, but I’d recommend the podcast anyway!)
But for those who don’t have 48mins to listen to that episode, here we go.
Essentially, socialism promotes social ownership rather than private ownership for public assets. What does this mean? It does not mean, as was said in that podcast this morning, that the government owns everything. What it does mean, is that for particular assets, which are deemed public in nature, the public community own the assets. This doesn’t mean no private property of any type.
What can this look like? Well, when the NHS in the UK was founded in 1946 (check out the history here), this was a socialist enterprise. From the article:
The NHS was born out of the ideal that healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth.
Wikipedia
Much of socialism depends on this idea, that there are certain things that we should all have access to regardless of wealth. For me, these include health services, education, housing, food, clothing. OK, people with wealth can afford better quality of each of these. But for me, these basic rights that every human on the planet deserves. And they need to meet a basic standard as well. I don’t count the tents being used in direct provision in Ireland currently as meeting that basic standard.
We are a nation of bad weather and living in tents, no matter how well heated, is no way to live.
What is communism?
A communist society would entail the absence of private property and social classes, and ultimately money and the state (or nation state).
Wikipedia
Essentially, communism wants nothing owned privately. That’s the major difference between socialism and communism.
It may not seem like a big one, but it’s pretty huge. Many anti communist texts debate the problems with no free enterprise. I’ll leave you to google your own list.
What about capitalism?
Capitalism, in it’s purest form, is pure private ownership, with market forces determining everything. Profit is king. Class warfare is massive. Production is purely for profit, no element of social benefit or basic needs.
My own thoughts
For me, the difference is between me getting to choose my own career, my own housing situation, my own clothing, without the government dictating what my “needs” are. Because frankly, the Irish government really doesn’t have a good track record in that space!
Free market enterprise can produce fantastic leaps in technology, research etc. The average smart phone has loads more tech than the rocket that took Neil Armstrong and co to the moon, for example. But it also leads to massive wealth inequality, when unchecked by some limits. When I see the social issues rearing their heads in the US, and copied in the Uk, I worry about what’s coming to Ireland.
Ireland
We have massive wealth inequality in Ireland. In 2021, an Irish Times article declared we had the worst wealth inequality in the EU. However, this was a bit misleading as it didn’t take into account taxes and benefits. We’re close enough to the EU average, once you consider these aspects.
That’s still not good though. There still exists poverty in Ireland at a rate I’m not happy with! A few items from the CSO (Central Statistics Office)
- An individual is defined as being at risk of poverty if their nominal equivalised disposable income is under the at risk of poverty threshold, i.e. 60% of the median nominal equivalised disposable income.
- In SILC 2022, the at risk of poverty rate was 13.1%, a 1.5 percentage point increase on the 2021 estimate of 11.6%. This figure is similar to the 2020 estimate of 13.2%, indicating that the decrease in 2021 may have been temporary and linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic measures.
- Those most at risk of poverty in SILC 2022 were those individuals who described their Principal Economic Status (PES) as unemployed (35.6%), followed by persons unable to work due to long-standing health problems (35.2%). This compares with an at risk of poverty rate of 5.8% for those that described themselves as employed.
- By age group, the largest year on year change in the at risk of poverty rate was in persons ages 65 or over, going from 11.9% in 2021 to 19.0% in 2022.
- By household composition, the at risk of poverty rate was highest amongst single adult households. One in three persons living in households composed of one adult aged 65 years and over (33.6%), or composed of one adult aged less than 65 years (32.0%) were at risk of poverty in SILC 2022. The rate was lowest for those living in households with three or more adults (4.7%).
- The at risk of poverty rate for individuals in households with one adult and one or more children aged under 18 was 23.8%, compared with 13.1% of persons living in two adult households with 1-3 children.
Basically, the further away from dual income household with no kids (Dinkies) you are, the more at risk from poverty you are. Probably makes sense when you think about it.
But none of this is a reason to abhor socialism. Socialism, or at least some facets of it, can help support removing people from risk of poverty. If you have enough tasty, nutritious, attractive food to eat, warm, dry housing with plenty of space, clothing appropriate for your activities and lifestyle, clean water, some disposable income – how can you be poor?
Connection to Brigid
This isn’t communism. Providing for those who, for whatever reason, don’t earn enough to provide these amenities for themselves isn’t communism. It’s not communism to suggest the government intervene to ensure people can get health care without going bankrupt. It’s not communism to suggest that people be paid a living wage.
Socialism and communism are categorically not the same thing. They’re really not. Stop being afraid of even learning about either of them. If you’re reading this blog, you probably have an interest in Brigid. Building and supporting your community is an important part of that. If we look at the saint, she frequently gave away items to the people with nothing. If you look at Brig Ambue, she took her name from caring for the cowless. Definitely not the rich.
If we choose to live a spiritual life, sometimes that means living up to the standards set by our deity. Or saint. And sometimes that means stepping outside our cultural norms and examining things with a bit more discernment.
