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5.17

Socio-political model-Socialism

Socialism is an ancient social model and is based on the principle that the collective owns the assets of society that in turn is managed through some elite. This elite might be in power through force, or through election.

Socialism bears many common features to monarchism and the outcomes of both systems in terms of historical poor human rights is virtually identical.

Element

Component

State Creed

"That workers fulfil their rights to own the means of their own labour, instead of being slaves to capitalists who would exploit them."

"To rid society of social inequity where a few have all the wealth and many have little wealth."

"To ensure equality for all".

Belief System

Political manifesto

Law

Usually constitution

Body politic

Council, regional leadership with tribunals, or

Leader, council/cabinet, regional appointed leadership/tribunals, or

Executive leadership, democratically elected parliament dominated by two or one party system.

Industry

State controlled and owned, but often in partnership with big corporations, with leadership and families also being wealthy asset owners.

Infrastructure

Knowledge

Frequently decimated/imprisoned intellectuals, large intellectual refugee population.

Trade

Sovereignty & Defence

Much higher concentration of resources on military/defence/police to maintain power.

Economic activity

Communication

Usually tightly monitored communication.

Heavily restricted state owned/controlled media, controls over content.

Gross production

Quazi-born to rule

Typically socialist states grow out of the collapse and revolution of monarch states and around some great and charismatic leader. The result is that the families of the leadership of the revolution become the defacto rulers and quazi-born to rule.

Few societies have ever implemented an effective version of democratic socialism where the elite government in fact lives up to the morals of state ownership and the rights of the collective. Most implementations of socialism have bred corrupt and ultimately incompetent elite social classes who fail to manage the overall dynamic needs of the society.

China in some respects is an exception where generational change seems to have become a strategy of the political infrastructure so that previous leaderships and their families and relatives do not hold and retain power as defacto Emperors.

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