Essay
Socialism essays
- Module
- Socialism (9PLO/01)
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
It consists of three essays worth A's and they are all about socialism. They all structured to have an introduction, three main paragraphs and a conclusion.
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By: eloisalaunders • 2 year ago
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15/02/21To what extent to socialists disagree on their views of society
Society is the collection of people living together in a more or less ordered community.
Socialists agree that society is important and inseparable from human nature which is
inherently sociable. However, they disagree on the nature and importance of class
structure and the role of social justice and equality in society. Therefore this essay will
assess the agreements that socialists share, in regards to society, the disagreements
they consist of are within nature and class structure, and finally, the disagreement
within the role of social justice.
Firstly, all socialists agree that society is extremely important. This is because it has a
clear impact on human nature, as social conditions shape human behaviour. For ex-
ample, if social conditions consist of considerable inequality, this will lead to resent-
ment and lack of cooperation, showing that collectivism is undermined. Revolutionary
socialists for example, such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argue that social equal-
ity must be created to encourage cooperation. This is to prevent the problem of indi-
vidualism, as this ensures selfishness and megalomaniacs within society. Similarly, all
socialists agree on providing either equality of outcome or equality of opportunity,
demonstrating that they believe people should gain support, to have a better chance
in life. However, they differ on how to approach this situation, either through total
equality, the welfare state, or through a capitalist society (minimised inequality). Over-
all, it is clear that all socialists believe that society is extremely predominant, as it
plays a key role in impacting human nature. They also feel that every person deserves
a chance of prosperity, even though the methods differ.
On the other hand, socialists disagree on the nature and importance of class structure.
Revolutionary socialists and social democrats believe there is a class structure and it
is significant, as it can have a huge impact on the behaviour of people within society.
Socialists are extremely keen on cooperation, as they believe it is more efficient to
work in groups and have the same goal. Therefore as they want to retain these traits
within society, they disagree on a capitalist state, and revolutionary socialists feel that
a revolution must take place to abolish this system, as it is too powerful. Whereas so-
cial democrats disagree, instead are convinced that capitalism and socialism are com-
patible. Social democrats, such as Anthony Crossland argue that society is still defined
by social class, but more complex, hence why, the state should be used to minimise
social inequalities between the classes. The state can do this by having a mixed econ-
omy, with socialistic elements operating with a capitalist framework. They also believe
in evolutionary socialism, hence showing that they believe in gradual change, rather
than completely eradicating capitalism, like fundamental socialists.
Finally, socialists also disagree on the role of social justice. Revolutionary socialists,
such as Karl Marx are convinced that society should be classless, hence causing abso-
lute social equality. Whereas social democratic, such as Anthony Crossland are con-
vinced that there should be minimised inequality through a welfare state, as Beatrice
Webb called it the ‘expanding state.’ This is because according to Crosland’s ideas of
social justice, inequality undermines collectivism, as wealthy people do not want to co-
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