September 27, 2025 • 11 mins
Socialism and communism are often mentioned in the same breath, and they do share a common history, but socialists aren't necessarily communists -- and vice versa. Learn more about both concepts and how they've been put into practice in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/socialism-vs-communism.htm
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff
Lauren Bolebaum here. The Soviet Union was the world's first
communist country, So why was its official name the Union
(00:23):
of Soviet Socialist Republics. Our Socialism and communism actually the
same thing, Yes and no. Both share a single foundation
at the Communist Manifesto published in eighteen forty eight by
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. But there are clear differences
between authoritarian communist regimes like the Soviet Union and China
(00:47):
and far more democratic forms of socialism practicing countries like Sweden,
Canada and Bolivia. To understand the differences between socialism and communism,
we have to start with their common enemy, capitalism. Marx
and Engels viewed the entirety of human history as a
history of class struggles. In ancient Rome, there were patricians, plebeians,
(01:12):
and the enslaved. In feudal societies, there were lords, apprentices
and serfs. In the seventeen hundreds, political and economic revolutions
in England, America and France did away with feudalism and
replaced it with capitalism. For the article this Episodes based
on How Stuff Works, spoke Norman Markwitz, a political history
(01:32):
professor at Rutgers University. He said, by the eighteen twenties
and eighteen thirties, capitalism had produced a world of progress
and poverty. Even at that early point, the Industrial Revolution
and the creation of free market economies had greatly benefited
the wealthy classes, who owned the factories and the farms,
(01:54):
that is, the means of production, while leaving the average
worker even worse off than the Marx and Engels divided
the modern world into two classes, the bourgeoisie, who owned
the means of production, and the proletariat, or the working class.
A capitalism, with its emphasis on cheap labor, had created
(02:15):
an ever widening gulf between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat,
a problem they said could only be fixed by completely
dismantling the political and economic system that had created it.
But Marx and Engels, writing in the eighteen forties, weren't
the first to have these ideas. They were the latest
in a long line of economic and political theorists who
(02:36):
all identified as socialists. A Socialism as a movement began
in the early eighteen hundreds with thinkers like Henri de Sinsman,
Robert Owen, and Charles Fourier. Disgusted with the inequalities created
by capitalism and competition, early socialists proposed the creation of
workers collectives with shared ownership of property, farms, and factories.
(03:01):
Markwitz said from the eighteen twenties through the eighteen forties
there were various different socialist movements that attracted workers, farmers,
and alienated intellectuals, and all kinds of plans and programs
to establish socialist collectives. The aforementioned Robert Owen, a wealthy
Scottish industrialist, even founded such a community called New Harmony
(03:23):
in Indiana in eighteen twenty five, which eventually failed. Socialism,
both then and now, advocates for cooperation rather than competition,
by opposing an unrestricted market economy. Under a socialist system,
citizens pay high income taxes in exchange for free access
to government run programs and services. In some socialist models,
(03:48):
all industry and means of production are state owned, while
other models allow for private ownership of businesses, with public
control of certain sectors like health care, energy, education, and transportation.
The goal of socialism is to create a more egalitarian society.
A Marx and Engels were fierce critics of the earlier
(04:09):
utopian forms of socialism that were, in their words, doomed
to failure because they said they were based on the
naive belief that class struggle could be resolved through peaceful means.
Markowitz explained, A Marx and Engels believed that eventually the
struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat would create a
crisis in which the capitalist system would need to be
(04:31):
abolished and replaced with a socialist system. It wouldn't be
a utopian system, but a system in which the working
class have the political power. So you can think of
the communist Manifesto as a socialist called arms in it. A.
Marx and Engels argued that the only way to end
the class struggles that had defined history was through a
(04:54):
socialist revolution. After the revolution, society would be ruled by
a dictator leadership of the proletariat. Under capitalism, the bourgeoisie
called the shots, but a government ruled by the workers
would put the worker's interests first and not those of
a wealthy elite. For Marx and Engels, communism was the
(05:14):
most advanced form of socialism. They saw the evolution of
advanced societies as starting with capitalism, moving to socialism, and
finally reaching the ultimate goal of communism. Under proletariat rule,
the communists would abolish private ownership of land, farms, and
factories and hand all control over to the state. Housing,
(05:35):
medical care, and education would all be free, and every
worker would have a job. In a way, Marx and
Engel's vision of a truly communist society was also utopian.
They believed that at some point the state itself would
cease to exist and the workers would simply share everything,
as Marx famously wrote, from each according to his ability,
(05:59):
to eacharding to his needs. Markowitz said, in that higher
stage of communism, there would be general equality and general abundance.
People could do whatever they want without harming others. They
would be genuinely free. But Marx Engels's version of revolutionary socialism,
(06:20):
also known as Marxism, was never really put into practice. Instead,
the world's first communist revolution happened in an unlikely placed,
Czarist Russia, and its political mastermind was Vladimir Lenin. Lenin
was a Marxist, but he put his own twist on
communist theory. He was a champion of the workers, but
(06:41):
he wasn't confident that a dictatorship of the proletariat would
spontaneously form after the revolution. Instead of leaving governance up
to an election or appointment by the workers, Lenin installed
the Communist Party. All power was put in the hands
of a political elite that controlled every asset aspect of
Soviet economic, cultural, and intellectual life, with the ostensible goal
(07:05):
of creating the more equitable socialist society. In reality, Leninisms
slipped into authoritarian and tolitarian territory with violent crackdowns on
dissent and opposition. The ideas put forth in the Communist
Manifesto inspired generations of political thinkers and economic theorists. Some
(07:25):
of those individuals formed socialist political parties to win power
by democratic means, while others, like Lenin and Malo Zadong
launched communist revolutions. The results today are countries and governments
that identify as either socialist or communist or both. Scandinavia
is home to a cluster of democratic socialist countries. Norway, Sweden, Finland,
(07:49):
and Denmark have elected socialist democratic parties into power, and
their legislatures have passed laws establishing expansive welfare states. In
a socialist welfare state, citizens pay high taxes, but enjoy
generous social services, including free education including college of free
health care, retirement pensions, paid parntal leave, subsidized housing, and more.
(08:13):
Socialism hasn't had much success in American politics since Eugene
Debs ran for president in the early nineteen hundreds, but
there are currently three members of the House of Representatives
who belong to the Democratic Socialists of America, including Alexandria
Ocasio Cortez of New York and Rashida Talib from Michigan.
The organization has over ninety two thousand members in the US.
(08:37):
Proponents of the democratic socialist model say that it allows
for the democratic ideal of individual liberty while also providing
the socialist ideal of egalitarian social programs. Critics say that
providing those egalitarian social programs requires a level of redistribution
of wealth and government regulation that necessarily hampers individual liberty.
(09:00):
It's important to point out that in democratic socialist countries today,
private ownership of business and free market capitalism are also
allowed to exist, and while socialist parties may currently be
in power, they're not one party governments. Other political parties
are allowed to campaign and run for office. That's not
(09:20):
the case in so called communist countries like China, Cuba,
and Vietnam, and it wasn't true in the former Soviet
Union either. Those nations are one party regimes where the
authority of the communist Party is unquestionable and the party
chooses government officials, not the people. While there is no
real democracy in these countries, capitalism has made significant inroads,
(09:44):
particularly in China and Vietnam. Meanwhile, just to keep things confusing,
all of the countries that we call communist still think
of themselves as socialist at just different flavors of socialism.
Markwitz said, China is developing its own model of socialism
that's very different from the Soviet Union. China's model retains
(10:06):
power in the hands of a government controlled by the
Communist Party, but it's also created a capitalist sector that's
become the second biggest economy in the world over the
last forty years. The truth, says Markowitz, is that there
has never been an actual communist country in Marx's sense
of the word justice. There has never been a true democracy.
(10:29):
He said, these are ideals that one works toward and
struggles to achieve. Today's episode is based on the article
what's the difference between socialism and communism on how Stuffworks
dot Com, written by Dave Ruse. The brain Stuff is
production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and
(10:50):
is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my
heart Radio, visit the Arheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows s
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff
Lauren Bolebaum here. The Soviet Union was the world's first
communist country, So why was its official name the Union
(00:23):
of Soviet Socialist Republics. Our Socialism and communism actually the
same thing, Yes and no. Both share a single foundation
at the Communist Manifesto published in eighteen forty eight by
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. But there are clear differences
between authoritarian communist regimes like the Soviet Union and China
(00:47):
and far more democratic forms of socialism practicing countries like Sweden,
Canada and Bolivia. To understand the differences between socialism and communism,
we have to start with their common enemy, capitalism. Marx
and Engels viewed the entirety of human history as a
history of class struggles. In ancient Rome, there were patricians, plebeians,
(01:12):
and the enslaved. In feudal societies, there were lords, apprentices
and serfs. In the seventeen hundreds, political and economic revolutions
in England, America and France did away with feudalism and
replaced it with capitalism. For the article this Episodes based
on How Stuff Works, spoke Norman Markwitz, a political history
(01:32):
professor at Rutgers University. He said, by the eighteen twenties
and eighteen thirties, capitalism had produced a world of progress
and poverty. Even at that early point, the Industrial Revolution
and the creation of free market economies had greatly benefited
the wealthy classes, who owned the factories and the farms,
(01:54):
that is, the means of production, while leaving the average
worker even worse off than the Marx and Engels divided
the modern world into two classes, the bourgeoisie, who owned
the means of production, and the proletariat, or the working class.
A capitalism, with its emphasis on cheap labor, had created
(02:15):
an ever widening gulf between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat,
a problem they said could only be fixed by completely
dismantling the political and economic system that had created it.
But Marx and Engels, writing in the eighteen forties, weren't
the first to have these ideas. They were the latest
in a long line of economic and political theorists who
(02:36):
all identified as socialists. A Socialism as a movement began
in the early eighteen hundreds with thinkers like Henri de Sinsman,
Robert Owen, and Charles Fourier. Disgusted with the inequalities created
by capitalism and competition, early socialists proposed the creation of
workers collectives with shared ownership of property, farms, and factories.
(03:01):
Markwitz said from the eighteen twenties through the eighteen forties
there were various different socialist movements that attracted workers, farmers,
and alienated intellectuals, and all kinds of plans and programs
to establish socialist collectives. The aforementioned Robert Owen, a wealthy
Scottish industrialist, even founded such a community called New Harmony
(03:23):
in Indiana in eighteen twenty five, which eventually failed. Socialism,
both then and now, advocates for cooperation rather than competition,
by opposing an unrestricted market economy. Under a socialist system,
citizens pay high income taxes in exchange for free access
to government run programs and services. In some socialist models,
(03:48):
all industry and means of production are state owned, while
other models allow for private ownership of businesses, with public
control of certain sectors like health care, energy, education, and transportation.
The goal of socialism is to create a more egalitarian society.
A Marx and Engels were fierce critics of the earlier
(04:09):
utopian forms of socialism that were, in their words, doomed
to failure because they said they were based on the
naive belief that class struggle could be resolved through peaceful means.
Markowitz explained, A Marx and Engels believed that eventually the
struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat would create a
crisis in which the capitalist system would need to be
(04:31):
abolished and replaced with a socialist system. It wouldn't be
a utopian system, but a system in which the working
class have the political power. So you can think of
the communist Manifesto as a socialist called arms in it. A.
Marx and Engels argued that the only way to end
the class struggles that had defined history was through a
(04:54):
socialist revolution. After the revolution, society would be ruled by
a dictator leadership of the proletariat. Under capitalism, the bourgeoisie
called the shots, but a government ruled by the workers
would put the worker's interests first and not those of
a wealthy elite. For Marx and Engels, communism was the
(05:14):
most advanced form of socialism. They saw the evolution of
advanced societies as starting with capitalism, moving to socialism, and
finally reaching the ultimate goal of communism. Under proletariat rule,
the communists would abolish private ownership of land, farms, and
factories and hand all control over to the state. Housing,
(05:35):
medical care, and education would all be free, and every
worker would have a job. In a way, Marx and
Engel's vision of a truly communist society was also utopian.
They believed that at some point the state itself would
cease to exist and the workers would simply share everything,
as Marx famously wrote, from each according to his ability,
(05:59):
to eacharding to his needs. Markowitz said, in that higher
stage of communism, there would be general equality and general abundance.
People could do whatever they want without harming others. They
would be genuinely free. But Marx Engels's version of revolutionary socialism,
(06:20):
also known as Marxism, was never really put into practice. Instead,
the world's first communist revolution happened in an unlikely placed,
Czarist Russia, and its political mastermind was Vladimir Lenin. Lenin
was a Marxist, but he put his own twist on
communist theory. He was a champion of the workers, but
(06:41):
he wasn't confident that a dictatorship of the proletariat would
spontaneously form after the revolution. Instead of leaving governance up
to an election or appointment by the workers, Lenin installed
the Communist Party. All power was put in the hands
of a political elite that controlled every asset aspect of
Soviet economic, cultural, and intellectual life, with the ostensible goal
(07:05):
of creating the more equitable socialist society. In reality, Leninisms
slipped into authoritarian and tolitarian territory with violent crackdowns on
dissent and opposition. The ideas put forth in the Communist
Manifesto inspired generations of political thinkers and economic theorists. Some
(07:25):
of those individuals formed socialist political parties to win power
by democratic means, while others, like Lenin and Malo Zadong
launched communist revolutions. The results today are countries and governments
that identify as either socialist or communist or both. Scandinavia
is home to a cluster of democratic socialist countries. Norway, Sweden, Finland,
(07:49):
and Denmark have elected socialist democratic parties into power, and
their legislatures have passed laws establishing expansive welfare states. In
a socialist welfare state, citizens pay high taxes, but enjoy
generous social services, including free education including college of free
health care, retirement pensions, paid parntal leave, subsidized housing, and more.
(08:13):
Socialism hasn't had much success in American politics since Eugene
Debs ran for president in the early nineteen hundreds, but
there are currently three members of the House of Representatives
who belong to the Democratic Socialists of America, including Alexandria
Ocasio Cortez of New York and Rashida Talib from Michigan.
The organization has over ninety two thousand members in the US.
(08:37):
Proponents of the democratic socialist model say that it allows
for the democratic ideal of individual liberty while also providing
the socialist ideal of egalitarian social programs. Critics say that
providing those egalitarian social programs requires a level of redistribution
of wealth and government regulation that necessarily hampers individual liberty.
(09:00):
It's important to point out that in democratic socialist countries today,
private ownership of business and free market capitalism are also
allowed to exist, and while socialist parties may currently be
in power, they're not one party governments. Other political parties
are allowed to campaign and run for office. That's not
(09:20):
the case in so called communist countries like China, Cuba,
and Vietnam, and it wasn't true in the former Soviet
Union either. Those nations are one party regimes where the
authority of the communist Party is unquestionable and the party
chooses government officials, not the people. While there is no
real democracy in these countries, capitalism has made significant inroads,
(09:44):
particularly in China and Vietnam. Meanwhile, just to keep things confusing,
all of the countries that we call communist still think
of themselves as socialist at just different flavors of socialism.
Markwitz said, China is developing its own model of socialism
that's very different from the Soviet Union. China's model retains
(10:06):
power in the hands of a government controlled by the
Communist Party, but it's also created a capitalist sector that's
become the second biggest economy in the world over the
last forty years. The truth, says Markowitz, is that there
has never been an actual communist country in Marx's sense
of the word justice. There has never been a true democracy.
(10:29):
He said, these are ideals that one works toward and
struggles to achieve. Today's episode is based on the article
what's the difference between socialism and communism on how Stuffworks
dot Com, written by Dave Ruse. The brain Stuff is
production of iHeartRadio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and
(10:50):
is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my
heart Radio, visit the Arheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows s
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