Socialism – Wikiquote
I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. ... In short, you offered a premium for the encouragement of idleness, and you should not now wonder that it has had its effect in the increase of poverty. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Socialism refers to a broad array of theories, ideologies, doctrines or political movements which envisage a socio-economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy, as well as methods of establishing such a systems. "Social ownership" may refer to cooperative enterprises, common ownership, state ownership, citizen ownership of equity, or any combination of these. There are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them.
It is absolutely necessary that this question of legal plunder should be determined, and there are only three solutions of it:
1. When the few plunder the many. 2. When everybody plunders everybody else. 3. When nobody plunders anybody. Partial plunder, universal plunder, absence of plunder, amongst these we have to make our choice. The law can only produce one of these results. Partial plunder.This is the system which prevailed so long as the elective privilege was partial; a system which is resorted to, to avoid the invasion of socialism.
Universal plunder.We have been threatened by this system when the elective privilege has become universal; the masses having conceived the idea of making law, on the principle of legislators who had preceded them.
Absence of plunder.This is the principle of justice, peace, order, stability, conciliation, and of good sense.
So these are the things I noted in anarchism, and increasingly I came to the conclusion that if we were to avoidor if we are to avoidthe mistakes in over one hundred years of proletarian socialism, if we are to really achieve a liberatory movement, not simply in terms of economic questions but in terms of every aspect of life, we would have to turn to anarchism because it alone posed the problem, not merely of class domination but hierarchical domination, and it alone posed the question, not simply of economic exploitation, but exploitation in every sphere of life. And it was that growing awareness, that we had to go beyond classism into hierarchy, and beyond exploitation into domination, that led me into anarchism, and to a commitment to an anarchist outlook.
I believe in individual freedom; that's my primary and complete commitmentindividual liberty. Thats what it's all about. And that's what socialism was supposed to be about, or anarchism was supposed to be about, and tragically has been betrayed.
And when I normally encounter my so-called colleagues on the leftsocialists, Marxists, communiststhey tell me that, after the revolution, they're gonna shoot me. [audience laughs, Murray nods] That is said with unusual consistency. They're gonna stand me and Karl up against the wall and get rid of us real fast; I feel much safer in your company. [audience laughs and applauds]
Being an Anarchist I am also a Socialist. Socialism is the antithesis of Anarchy. One is the North Pole of Truth, the other the South. The Socialist believes in working for the good of all, while Anarchy is pure Individualism. I believe in every man working for the good of self; and in working for the good of self, he works for the good of all. To think, to see, to feel, to know; to deal justly; to bear all patiently; to act quietly; to speak cheerfully; to moderate one's voicethese things will bring you the highest good. They will bring you the love of the best, and the esteem of that Sacred Few, whose good opinion alone is worth cultivating. And further than this, it is the best way you can serve Societylive your life. The wise way to benefit humanity is to attend to your own affairs, and thus give other people an opportunity to look after theirs.
If there is any better way to teach virtue than by practicing it, I do not know it.
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
"About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
"He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
"'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
"The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.'These who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
"But he answered one of them, 'I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.Dont I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Indeed, he would later argue that any nominally private institution that gets more than 50% of its revenue from the government, or is heavily complicit in government crimes, or both, should be considered a government entity; since government ownership is illegitimate, the proper owners of such institutions are "the 'homesteaders', those who have already been using and therefore 'mixing their labor' with the facilities." This entails inter alia "student and/or faculty ownership of the universities." As for the "myriad of corporations which are integral parts of the military-industrial complex," one solution, Rothbard says, is to "turn over ownership to the homesteading workers in the particular plants." He also supported third-world land reforms considered socialistic by many conservatives, on the grounds that existing land tenure represented "continuing aggression by titleholders of land against peasants engaged in transforming the soil."
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Socialism - Wikiquote
- Opinion | Cliff Asness on Zohran Mamdanis Socialism - WSJ - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
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- From MAGA Marxism to NY Socialism, something is happening in America - AL.com - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- GMR Today: Can socialism win at the ballot box? - Communist Party USA - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- A City Not Of Socialism: Eric Adams Takes Shot At Zohran Mamdani As He Launches Reelection Bid - The Daily Wire - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Eric Adamss Common Sense Will Save New York From Radical Socialism - The New York Sun - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Socialism in practice: Private land was 32.4 times as productive as public land in the Soviet Union - Stephen Hicks.org - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
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- Despite the Pain in the World, Socialism Is Not a Distant Utopia: The Twenty-Fifth Newsletter (2025) - thetricontinental.org - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- The Cuban regime now says that to build socialism, a "well-structured economic system" is needed - CiberCuba - June 18th, 2025 [June 18th, 2025]
- We are heading for economic disaster: say goodbye to virtue-signalling socialism - The Telegraph - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
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- Daz-Canel: "The fight against homophobia and transphobia is part of the ideals of socialism in Cuba." - CiberCuba - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- Left turns toward socialism, and America must be on guard - The Mountaineer - May 17th, 2025 [May 17th, 2025]
- Join the Trotskyist movement to fight for socialism - World Socialist Web Site - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- "Socialism, yes... but with an hourly rate": The wave of memes about the rental of the Anti-Imperialist Tribune - CiberCuba - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Economic Nationalism Divides Us. World Socialism Is the Answer | Opinion - Newsweek - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Class struggle and identity politics in the era of Trump - International Socialism - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Breaking European socialism will solve Americas drug pricing gap - Washington Times - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- We will intensify campaign for socialism: Chair Prachanda - The Rising Nepal - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Cuba and Vietnam walk together in the construction of socialism - Granma - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- The trade deals will be wasted unless Sir Keir rejects socialism - The Telegraph - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, and the sausage line - Stephen Hicks.org - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Ending the Gaza genocide requires the fight for socialism - World Socialist Web Site - May 8th, 2025 [May 8th, 2025]
- Trumps dictatorship, global war, and the fight for socialism - World Socialist Web Site - May 8th, 2025 [May 8th, 2025]
- The Illusion Of Choice: Capitalism, Socialism, And The Suppression Of Religion In The Modern Era - Kashmir Reader - May 8th, 2025 [May 8th, 2025]
- Parroting of socialism: Merely in words, not in action - The Himalayan Times - May 8th, 2025 [May 8th, 2025]
- The end of post-socialism and the opportunity for a European public service media house - New Eastern Europe - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Socialism, the only alternative in the face of danger - Granma - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Study group: What are the prospects for socialism in the U.S.? - Freedom Socialist Party - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Debunking the Not Real Socialism Myth - New Ideal - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Capitalism versus Socialism: The Confusion of Knight, the Clarity of Mises | Peter J. Boettke - Independent Institute - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Dilemmas of Humanity: Socialism is the only way, says Vijay Prashad during the conferences opening - Brasil de Fato - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Brinda Karat interview: Socialism is only alternative to capitalism, loot, American hegemony - The Federal News - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Letters: "The bandwagon of vindictive socialism [against farming] rolls on" - Farmers Guardian - April 3rd, 2025 [April 3rd, 2025]
- Leipzig Book Fair 2025: David North to present the German edition of his book Sounding the Alarm: Socialism Against War - WSWS - March 28th, 2025 [March 28th, 2025]
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- Trump's tariffs fly like socialism in the face of free enterprise capitalism | Letters - The Columbus Dispatch - March 22nd, 2025 [March 22nd, 2025]
- Cybernetics with Chinese Characteristics: How big data is eliminating poverty and building socialism - People's World - March 13th, 2025 [March 13th, 2025]
- The defense of science requires a fight for socialism! - WSWS - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
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- Faced with Trumps tariffs: working class unity and international socialism - In Defence of Marxism - March 11th, 2025 [March 11th, 2025]
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- Red Reviews: Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR - Fight Back! Newspaper - February 18th, 2025 [February 18th, 2025]
- Socialism at the Milk Bar - Tribune magazine - February 18th, 2025 [February 18th, 2025]
- To Fight The Right, Fight For Socialism - Socialist Alternative - February 18th, 2025 [February 18th, 2025]
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- Jenny Erpenbeck: There is a place in the world for socialism - Hindustan Times - February 18th, 2025 [February 18th, 2025]
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- Boomers, its time to hand over your dosh and kill millennial socialism - The Telegraph - January 30th, 2025 [January 30th, 2025]
- System change not climate change Socialism and the fight to save our environment - Socialist Worker - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- A Deputy claims that young Cubans want to stay in Cuba to "build socialism." - CiberCuba - December 25th, 2024 [December 25th, 2024]
- Milei becomes a symbol of the global far right: We must put an end to the garbage of socialism once and for all - EL PAS USA - December 8th, 2024 [December 8th, 2024]
- John Bellamy Foster: The Dialectics of Ecology: Socialism and Nature Book Review - MR Online - December 8th, 2024 [December 8th, 2024]
- Socialism holds its ground and grows stronger with Chinas contribution - Workers World - December 8th, 2024 [December 8th, 2024]
- LETTER: Provincial, federal governments have 'drifted toward socialism' - BurlingtonToday.com - December 8th, 2024 [December 8th, 2024]
- Yall called it socialism: The internet calls out Republicans hypocrisy over American healthcare - The Mary Sue - December 8th, 2024 [December 8th, 2024]
- Andrew Wilkes Is Convinced That the Gospel and Socialism Go Together - Sojourners - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]
- Socialism Today editorial: Trumpism and its limits - Socialist Party - November 28th, 2024 [November 28th, 2024]