What is Socialism?

A Basic Introduction

Democratic

Socialists of America

dsausa.org

Today’s Agenda

Why does everything keep getting worse?

• Our society is grossly unequal. The top 1% of American households hold a whopping 30% of the country's wealth, with the bottom 50% holding just 2.5%.

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• The climate crisis is devastating our planet, and it has only begun to take its toll. Meanwhile, our politicians either deny its existence or offer nothing but vague promises in response.

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• The far-right has reemerged as a political force, and the Trump administration is deepening its attacks on democratic rights and social progress - threatening to undo the achievements of the past century's struggles for democracy, women's rights, racial equality, LGBTQ+ rights, etc. Immigrants face the brunt of these attacks.

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• We are living in a period of intensifying imperialist violence, signified by the war in Ukraine and Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians, the greatest crime of the twenty-first century.

Capitalism is the root cause of poverty, imperialist war, and attacks on civil rights.

Our social system is the problem!

• The cause of this crisis is capitalism, a social system in which the means of production - the assets and resources necessary to produce things - are owned privately.

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• In capitalist societies, wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small elite. Goods are produced to make profits, not to fulfill human needs. Even necessities like housing, healthcare, and food are turned into commodities.

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• What’s good for the capitalists isn’t good for the rest of us. While the ruling class hoards exorbitant profits, much of the population struggles to afford its basic needs.

Why capitalism is failing

• Capitalism contains a basic �contradiction: it generates huge�amounts of wealth, but denies the�vast majority of humanity access �to it.

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• Our society has the ability to fulfill�everyone’s needs, but doesn’t do so �because it’s unprofitable.�
• Capitalism is built on exploitation and suffering. The only way out is for the working class to fight back. Which brings us to…

Class struggle and socialism

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."

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• Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party

Why is class important?

• Under capitalism, your interests are determined by your class position.

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• The bourgeoisie (the capitalist class) seeks to maximise its profits at the expense of everyone else.

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• The proletariat (working class) seeks immediate improvements to its conditions, but it can only win full liberation by overthrowing the capitalist system and building a socialist society.

The Two Main Classes of Capitalist Society

Bourgeoisie

• Ruling and owning class
• Controls the means of production
• Hires workers in order to extract profit from their labour
• A small minority

Proletariat

• Working class
• Sells its labour power for a wage to survive
• Not just factory workers! Service workers are proletarian too.
• The vast majority

Socialists want to put power over society in the hands of the working class.

How class struggle defeats capitalism

• The working class has the power to destroy capitalism. But to pull it off, it needs its own organisations and an awareness that its task is to overthrow the system and create a new society.�
• Socialists fight for the day-to-day needs of the working class, but our horizon is a socialist revolution. This revolution will wrestle control of the means of production and the state from the bourgeoisie, and lay the foundations for a socialist society.

The socialist society

What isn't socialism?

• Socialism is not the welfare state. While socialists have led the fight for expanding social programs to improve workers' lives, the welfare state is only a concession to the working class - not the socialist society we want.

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• Socialism is not about "big government". Since the capitalist state belongs to the bourgeoisie, expanding it does not take power away from the ruling class.

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• Socialism is not about everyone getting paid the same amount. Differences in wages will exist so long as wages exist. Socialists fight for the abolition of wage labour.

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• Socialism does not mean dictatorship. Socialists fight for the greatest possible expansion of democracy, putting genuine power into the hands of the working class instead of just the ability to choose who oversees the system exploiting them.

What is socialism?

• Socialist society is based on the whole of society controlling production. Things will be produced for use rather than profit - no more superyachts when people are sleeping in subways.

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• The socialist economy will be organised according to conscious, rational planning. Decisions will be made according to the needs and desires of the people affected by them, rather than what makes CEOs the biggest profits.

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• Under socialism, classes will no longer exist. There will be no more proletariat or bourgeoisie, only co-equal members of society.

"Above all, [socialism] will have to take the control of industry and of all branches of production out of the hands of mutually competing individuals, and instead institute a system in which all these branches of production are operated by society as a whole – that is, for the common account, according to a common plan, and with the participation of all members of society."

• Friedrich Engels, The Principles of Communism

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Is socialism against “human nature”?

• Socialism does not require people to be infinitely benevolent. In socialism, individual well-being is tied to the well-being of society as a whole. The desires of individuals do not contradict the needs of socialist society.�
• The way that individuals act is determined by the society they live in. Violent, exploitative individuals are a result of a violent, exploitative society, not “human nature”.�
• Greed and self-interest are not what causes exploitation. This is why being extremely greedy does not automatically make you rich.�
• Capitalism has not existed for all of human history - in fact, it has only come to dominate the planet in the last two centuries. There is nothing "natural" about it.

What is DSA?

We must be organised to win!

• The working class can only win if it has its own party. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) aims to be that party.�
• DSA is the largest and fastest-growing socialist organisation in the United States. We pride ourselves on our robust internal democracy and debate.�
• There are many different points of view within DSA, but all DSA members are united by our commitment to a socialist future and the struggle for the emancipation of the working class.

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• If the ideas in this presentation resonated with you, we encourage you to get involved! If you're ready to do something tangible to fight Trump's fascism and the whole rotten capitalist system, you should join us.

Questions?

Socialism is a huge topic, and this lesson only touches on the basics. All questions are welcome!

Please be kind and respectful during discussions.