Not Exactly the Same Democratic socialists of course want democracy. They want free and fair elections. They think this makes them right and that the only thing whatsoever that was wrong with communism was that it wasn't democratic. Yes that was a problem. But the mere fact that the government was trying to micromanage the entire economy was itself a problem. At least if we tried democratic socialism at some point common sense would prevail and the democratic socialists would be elected out of office and we would not have democratic socialism any more. Posted by: MasturDbtor Report Post

No. It isn't Communism thinks that everybody is the same. Democratic socialism thinks that we don't have enough democracy (wtf am i doing here im letting the experts do this job cuz i dont know as much as experts, even if im a democratic socialist blyat. 7 more words needed. сука blyat mate Report Post

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Then so is Fascism and Conservatism! One argument that can be levelled is that Conservatism and Fascism are the same, but that WOULD be ludicrous, wouldn't it?



Many conservatives in the 1930s were VERY friendly with Hitler, and hailed him as a great example of a leader; he turned the economy of Germany around and enriched the middle classes. Only when he went too far in 1939 and we HAD to declare war on him, then it was no longer possible to deny the truth about his regime and what it was doing.



Both ideologies come from the same stable, that there is an elite who are entitled to accrue wealth and rule with privilege, though the methods differ. I would be VERY disingenuous to suggest THEY are the same, but it has to be admitted that many democratic conservative nations cuddle up to Fascist regimes (the USA being the best example). Many democratic socialist nations also do this 'buddy, buddy' thing with communist regimes, and that ain't right, but they are NOT the same thing, despite being grounded in the same ideology, which is that all humans are equal, and all who contribute to society deserve a reasonable share of the profits and spoils.



The greatest irony is that Western nations are now lining up to do business with China and beg for their manufacturing and investment since they became a capitalist economy (though NOT a free market one, not by a long shot!), yet they are STILL a totalitarian regime with appalling human rights, and last I checked it was still the COMMUNIST party in charge! Posted by: Irishrebel Report Post

As a Communist, I am disappointed by democratic socialist leaders and parties Who allow large sections of the economy to remain under heavily regulated capitalist control. They are setting themselves up for an eventual reactionary backlash from a still powerful ruling class, followed by austerity and the reestablishment of intensive exploitation. Capitalism is not a bad dog you can keep on a leash. It is a superpredator that will consume you unless you kill it first. Posted by: JohnMoreDread Report Post

As a Communist, I am dissatisfied by Democratic Socialist parties and leaders Who allow large sections of the economy to remain under heavily regulated capitalist control. They are setting themselves up for an eventual reactionary backlash from a still powerful ruling class, followed by austerity and the reestablishment of intensive exploitation. Capitalism is not a bad dog you can keep on a leash. It is a superpredator that will consume you unless you kill it first. Report Post

Facts Are Facts First... There are different types of Socialism.

With this in mind, Democratic Socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet the majority of public needs, not to make profits for a few.



Democratic Socialists do NOT want to create an all-powerful government bureaucracy. But they also do not want big corporate bureaucracies & lobbyists to control society either.



Democratic Socialists believe that social & economic decisions should be made by those whom they most affect... Which in the USA would be the middle class.



In a nut shell --- Democratic Socialism is a system of government by which the whole population rules. The Society of people is most important with a healthy dose of regulated capitalism, regulated to ensure the people are protected from financial gouging and corporate abuses. Posted by: wantbest4all Report Post

No they are not Democratic Socialism is when the economy is organized socialistically in a democratic fashion, while communism is a post-scarcity economy where almost all labor is automated and there is superabundance. The terms are very propagandized however so people are often confused, for example people think the USSR called itself communist when it only said they were going to achieve it one day. Report Post

They're not quite the same. Democratic socialism (not to be confused with social-democracy, which is just slightly regulated capitalism) attempts to install socialism via (bourgeois democratic, as they are in 'democratic' countries at this time) elections. They believe they can fight the system from within to eventually establish communism (a classless, stateless society with common ownership of the means of production).



(Revolutionary) communists on the other hand believe this is impossible, as the system was specifically designed by the bourgeoisie (who own the means of production) and the only way to overcome capitalism is via revolution. They believe that the current 'democratic systems' are not democratic (rule of the people) at all. A direct democracy is what they want, where everybody always has got a say about everything, without leaders. To accomplish communism, revolutionary communists want the proletariat (anyone who has to sell his/her labour (physical or intellectual) to a capitalist (member of the bourgeoisie), so the proletariat is the majority of the people) to overthrow the bourgeoisie and the bourgeois government and install the so-called 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. This would be a 'democratic dictatorship': democratic because every proletarian would have a say (in counsels, 'soviets' in Russian), dictatorship because one class (the proletariat) would have power over another (the capitalists/bourgeoisie). Note that communists believe this to be the case in capitalism, where the minority oppresses the majority. Also note that all capitalists can easily become proletarian. The purpose of the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' is to eliminate class differences; to make the bourgeoisie proletariat; to achieve a classless society. (There's also the question about the farmers, but different tendencies have got different views.) After this stage, the state (a tool of oppression) is no longer needed, and society becomes stateless.



A bit off-topic, but anarchism is basically the same, but skipping the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. (So revolution would be directly followed by a communist/anarchist society).





In short, democratic socialists want to use elections to come to power and begin change, communists want to people to take power via revolution. Report Post