And if I may make one more correction... I was researching a little more into Socialism and definitions surrounding that political system, and I discovered something interesting...
Apparently Socialism is more of an economic philosophy than a political one.
It would also seem that what I thought to be Socialism is actually a derivative of Socialism called Social Democracy. It seems to be a conglomerate of some of the pro's of Socialism, combined with the benefits of living in a Democracy, and therefore, avoiding the problem (hopefully) of a totalitarian government which then seeks to control all.
I definitely need to do more reading into this... But if you're interested, the wikipedia entry has some good stuff here.
Yes, exactly.
ReplyDeleteGramsci felt that socialism was a total way of life... A historical process, a political theory, a philosophy, an economic policy, a mysticism and a morality. He had a theory called absolute historicism which went into this at some length.
ReplyDeleteGramsci's writings were compiled and released in 3 volumes. I paid something like 300 dollars and got 2000+ pages. I can highly recommend the full monty if you've got a month to spare. If you just want my own opinions on what socialism is, you can read this for free:
http://www.themormonworker.org/articles/issue3/the_unattained_enlightenment.php
You get what you pay for. ;)
Not bad for free information at all!
ReplyDeleteI particularly liked one of the questions you posed...
Are human beings inherently selfish, or is the universal narcissism we witness today the product of a lifetime of conditioning by the demands and pressures of capital?
I saw a bumper sticker today at lunch on the back of a nice brand new Chrystler M300... I'll keep my money, you keep the Change. It seems to me that every argument against socialism, social democracies, or any form of eqalitarian society seems to be "But I want to keep my money!" "I earned it" "I deserve it".
And yet these same people preach that The love of money is the root of all evil.
There's an idea that comes from Marx (through György Lukács) called reification.
ReplyDeleteBasically, we are programmed to see people as objects to be used, and commodities as peers with which we have a relationship. It's all backward. You love your ipod, and the spouse who gave it to you on your birthday is simply the means to take pleasure or produce more wealth to buy more junk.
I guess that's the simple way to explain the pressures and demands of capital and its effects on human consciousness.