The 5 differences between socialism and communism

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 occurred at this stage have to do with the frictions that have existed between socialism and capitalism.

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

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

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Differences between communism and socialism

In many respects they are similar, but they are not synonymous and care must be taken not to confuse them with each other. Anyway, keep 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 socialists.

Many of these are not socialists despite having the word in the name, since they have experienced a derives that has led them to keep their initials simply to appeal to an electoral base that used to to support. Partly, the term "socialism" is used under a logic of marketing and imagesimply because there are many people who feel socialist.

That said, in short, the differences between communism and socialism are as follows.

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1. They belong to different moments in time

Socialism and communism can be understood as two stages of a political and production project: first comes socialism, and then comes communism. Namely, in temporal terms they are mutually exclusiveAlthough according to socialist theorists to reach communism it is necessary to first defend a socialist program. We will see the reason in the next point.

2. One has opposing classes, the other does not

In socialism the concept of social class is very important. A social class is a group of people that is defined by the relationship they have with the means of production. In other words, having to earn money working for others is not the same as having resources that make it possible for others to work for oneself: factories, farmland, etc.

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

In communism, on the other hand, social classes no longer exist, since there is no one who privately owns 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 attach great importance to the redistribution of goods, but do not propose the same thing.

While socialism works under the motto "from each 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, in communism it is assumed that you are already in a situation in which it is relatively easy to meet the needs of all people, while that in socialism there are limitations that prevent this, so when prioritizing the way in which it is redistributed, much is taken into account effort.

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4. The role attributed to the state

Historically, socialism has been divided in its conception of the state. While Marxist-rooted socialists argue that the state cannot disappear in a short period of time. time, others, associated with anarchism, defend the abolition of it, so that it disappears with a single "movement". Of course, both currents believe that the purpose of socialism is 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 the communists, the state is simply a machine that concentrates the power to impose political measures. economic and economic in favor of one social class and against the other, so by force it has to be absent in the goal that is pursues.

5. One opens up 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 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.