• merc@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    4 months ago

    Socialism is not when the government does stuff

    Socialism is when the “means of production” are owned by the people as a whole rather than individuals. Capitalism is when the “means of production” are owned by individuals. Every modern state contains a mix of both.

    If the US is 100% capitalist, then explain how the fire department is a capitalist institution.

    • J Lou@mastodon.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Capitalism is not just when the means of production are owned by individuals. For example, in an economy where all firms are democratically-controlled by the people that work in them, the means of production can be owned by individuals, but such an economy is not capitalist because exploitative property relations associated with capitalism are abolished