• Categorized under Ideology,Politics | Difference between Socialism and Anarchism

Socialism vs Anarchism

Socialism is a form of economy where the public owns and manages the resources of society while anarchism is a political ideology where individuals govern their own selves and freely group themselves to produce social wealth. While socialists and anarchists advocate equality of all individuals in order to achieve the common good of each individual, they differ in their approach in realizing the good of each individual. Those who support socialism claim that the common good can be attained through collective efforts. Anarchists, on the other hand, maintain that individuals must be free to develop their respective full potential and must also be free to have control of their own lives and do whatever they want to do. The freedom and equal opportunity must be enjoyed by all individuals regardless of race or class.

The socialists and anarchists also differ in their views of government. Socialists believe that the use of resources collectively owned by society for production of goods and services must be planned and controlled by a popularly elected council or state. They think that centralized economic planning will lead to optimal results. They also see the government as an instrument of justice for labor or the working class. Anarchists, on the contrary, find no use for a government. They believe that the government impedes growth and is meant to keep things as they are so that they will do everything to make government extinct and be succeeded by a society of free individuals who will govern their own selves and exercise their personal freedom without restraint. To the anarchists, rules imposed by a government transgress the rights of an individual to administer his own life. It causes the individual to be weak. A weak individual, according to anarchists, is vulnerable to oppression. Instead of a central authority espoused by socialists to get organized, anarchists support mutual consent between and among individuals.

In a socialist society, individuals can own properties but limited to properties that are personal in nature. A socialist, for instance, can own a television set but cannot own a factory that produces a television set. Anarchists, in contrast, can own everything they want without limits.

Socialism and anarchism, based on the differences presented above cannot co-exist because of their strategies to attain the common good of man and society. The success of socialism will cause the failure of anarchism and vice-versa.

Summary:

1. Socialism is more of an economic system promoting collective ownership of properties to produce the goods and services of society while anarchism is more of a political ideology asserting that the freedom of the individual will allow him to attain the most in life.

2. Socialism believes in government while anarchism seeks to abolish government.

3. Socialists are only allowed to own personal properties and not properties utilized for production while anarchists can own anything they want without limits.

4. Socialism and anarchism are opposites and cannot co-exist.