The following definitions from Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, Simon and Schuster (1979) have been used because they are more informative than a simpler definition.

Socialism is defined as:   “the theory or system of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of the society or community sharing the work and the products.”

Who is the society or community mentioned in this socialism definition? How do they decide who does what?  Who does the work in the factories and who does the management?  What do they do with those who can’t work or refuse to work?  Do they share in the products?  Presumably, the factories, railroads, etc. are owned and operated by the people “with all members of the society or community sharing the work and products”.  Sharing the work is the key.  Without work, no product is produced.  Without a product to sell, there is no money.  What this implies is that nothing is free because work is needed to produce a product to sell and make money.

Does the government decide the responsibility issues? Presumably, a socialist government is a group of people making governmental decisions.  It is not clear how the people making the governmental decisions are selected.  It is presumed that they are elected or maybe appointed by persons who were elected by the people.  What it all boils down to is a group of people in government making the populace conform to rules and regulations issued by persons in the government who may have no idea of what any individual wants, but using government force, everyone must comply. It doesn’t work.  Government bureaucracies in any form of government will continue to issue rules and regulations if for no other reason than to justify their existence and jobs.  Even with all the super computers in the world, no government group can meet the actual needs of millions of people.

Communism is defined as:  “(a) an economic theory or system of the ownership of all property by the community as a whole; (b) a theory or system of ownership of all means of production (and distribution) by the community or society, with all members of the community or society sharing in the work and the products; specifically, such a system as practiced in the Soviet Union since 1917, and later in China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and other communist countries, theoretically based on the doctrines of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and, latterly, Stalin, characterized by state planning and control of the economy, ruthless suppression of all opposition political parties and all deviation within the Party and the suppression of individual liberties under a dictatorship; since 1940 expansionist by military action and subversion in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, etc.”

According to the definition, communism is very similar to socialism but there are differences in how each is implemented. The first stage of communism is a forcible political takeover or revolution to totalitarian control with a consequence that millions of people opposing the change may be killed.  That has been the history.  The means of production and distribution are seized.  No communist nation has ever progressed past the first stage.  With the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia is no longer classified as communist.

Communism tries to control all phases of the peoples’ lives. The government dictates how the children are educated and indoctrinates the children to inform the state of their parents’ deviation from what the government wants them to do.  In China, the government tells the people how many children they can have.  Since the government insists on total control, most if not all individual initiative is lost and people seem to just wait around for someone to tell them what they must do.  While everyone is supposed to have a job determined by the Communist Party, there is no competition to excel with the result that work quality is usually low.  The Soviet state farm cooperatives had similar quality problems.  Lines are normal to purchase food and other products.  Once again even with all the super computers in the world, no government group can meet the actual needs of millions of people.

Fascism is defined as:  “a system of government characterized by rigid one-party dictatorship, forcible suppression of the opposition (unions, other, especially leftist, parties, minority groups, etc.), the retention of private ownership of the means of production under centralized government control, belligerent nationalism and racism, glorification of war, etc.; first instituted in Italy in 1922.”

This is the worst type of government because fascist regimes are usually run by megalomaniacs who ruthlessly use force to satisfy the government’s directives. While all forms of government use force to make sure policy is implemented, fascism is one of the worst.  Life and death decisions are usually made by one person and anyone who disagrees will likely be jailed or killed.  Private ownership of the means of production is allowed but with centralized government control.  Racism, political suppression, etc. are normal.

Capitalism is defined as: “the economic system in which all or most of the means of production and distribution, as land, factories, railroads, etc. are privately owned and operated for profit, originally under fully competitive conditions: it has generally been characterized by a tendency towards concentration of wealth, and, in its later phase, by the growth of great corporations, increased governmental control, etc.”

To many, especially those on the left, capitalism is a dirty word. They are jealous of any rich and successful person unless that person is some feeble minded celebrity.  Maybe this jealousy is due to the fact that capitalism is not a governmental entity.  It is an economic system that rewards initiative, creative inventions and hard work with the accumulation of physical assets and wealth.  In a capitalist system, the government will stay out of the way most of the time until the business becomes so large that government begins to fear its existence and then starts to regulate it.  Capitalism and individual incentive have generated most of the inventions and scientific advances that the world uses today.  Examples are Edison’s light bulb, the airplane, automobiles, railroads, radio, television, etc.  Profit motive is an excellent way for people to devise new ways of doing things.

Of the four systems described above, capitalism is the only one that is not a political system; therefore, to have a government, a political system is needed. The United States government is a constitutional republic.  Politics is where problems in government begin.  Politicians in all systems of government are to some extent for sale as long as money is needed to get elected to a political office.  The seeds of corruption are planted in the political arena with the need for money.  Those with the most money to contribute to politicians have the most influence on politicians, i.e., they buy them.  With the money contributions, the donors expect special treatment.  As more and more money is needed to get elected, the corruption of the political system grows by leaps and bounds.  To accept the supposed fact that billions of dollars are needed to become President of the United States tells us that the entire political system has become corrupt and out of control.  It should be noted that most of the money being spent is on negative advertising which keeps the propaganda press happy.  The way to negate this influence is for the public to pay election costs with campaign spending limits and enforcement of automatic government office dismissal for violations.  This is discussed in my book.[1]  Due to election and length of term constraints, election violation appeals must be limited.  The lawyers will not like the limited appeal rule, but the appeal restrictions would only apply for elected office cases and excessive appeals only enrich lawyers without necessarily improving justice.

 Commentary

If should be noted that most governments are a combination of socialism and capitalism. The socialist part is government owned roads, bridges, schools, etc. and the capitalistic parts are privately owned railroads, electric utilities, factories, etc.  To pay for the operation and maintenance of any government system, taxes must be collected.  The size and cost to maintain the bureaucracy needed to direct the higher degree of government intervention and control for all these systems except capitalism is much higher.  For a capitalist system, government is needed to only maintain law and order and national defense.

[1] Ernest Kanak Jr., The Way I See It, Outskirts Press (2014), p.72-73