Transformations In American Society During The Market Revolution

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Recommended: comparison and contrast socialism and capitalism

Background

Socialism is a difficult concept to describe, partially because the concept has been continually developing over the last two centuries, and partly because no distinctively socialist template has ever become a successful technique of governing a modern nation. By asking a socialist as to the definition of socialism, the answer would more likely confirm what socialism is not. Socialism is not capitalism. It is not exploitation. It does not mean that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. (Heym) Although socialism cannot necessarily be defined, it has played an important role in international political history and has left an impact on the political society of today.

Socialism would not have been established without the influence of the revolutionary thinkers of Karl Marx, Henri de Saint-Simon, and Robert Owen. Individually each of these men influenced the development of the socialist movement. Karl Marx was philosopher, social scientist, historian, and revolutionary, who was without a doubt the most influential socialist thinker to emerge in the nineteenth century. Marx believed that capitalism would be replaced by radical socialism which in turn would develop into a communism - a classless society. Marx’s most acclaimed works include The Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital, and Value Price and Profit. In the work of The Communist Manifesto Marx was able to distinguish socialism from communism, while establishing the concept of scientific socialism (which over time became more commonly known as Marxism). Marx viewed a socialist society as a stage in history as a transition between capitalism and the higher phase of communist society in which human beings no longer suffer from alienation and all the springs o...

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...RE. 23 Sep 2007

McNally, David. "BIRTH OF THE SOCIALIST IDEA." Socialism From Below. 06 May 2002. 23 Sep 2007

Mises, Ludwig von, Socialism. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, Inc. 1981. Trans. J. Kahane. LIBRARY OF ECONOMICS AND LIBERTY. 23 September 2007

SOCIALISM. COMPTON'S BY BRITANNICA. ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. 2005. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. VIRTUAL SCHOOLING CENTRE. 23 Sep 2007

"SOCIALISM - INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF SOCIALISM." The History of Ideas. 2007. 23 Sep 2007

SOCIALISM. JUNIOR CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA (2002). Historical Foundation of Canada. 2002. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. VIRTUAL SCHOOLING CENTRE. 23 Sep 2007

"THE RISE OF SOCIALISM AND MARXISM." 23 Sep 2007, WALTER D. YOUNG Revised: ALAN WHITEHORN. Socialism. Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation of Canada. 2002. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. VIRTUAL SCHOOLING CENTRE. 23 Sep 2007. .

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