the way i see it, socialism is more of an economic model that revolves around the idea of equal distribution of resources (as we know). communism however, i see it as a societal / government model that implements socialism as its economic policy / base for decisions. I make this distinction on the basis that a society or government is composed of two main parts: a political model, and an economic model. as we know, communism does employ the ideals of socialism as its economic model, but in conjunction with a controlling, central political model to accompany it (either based on a single, absolute ruler, or the elite few), resulting in a government controlled, equal distribution of resources to the public. The two of course, go hand in hand.
If you actually go read some of Marx's original writings, he himself describes socialism as a means for delivery of communism.
Republic > Democracy > Marxism > Socialism > Communism
id have to read those writings before i were to comment on that, but i can see what youre getting at.
Socialism has been branded as a bad political ideology, at least here in the States. This has been nothing more than brainwashing the government put on civilians to get them "pumped up" for a war (WWI, WWII, etc.). So it's no surprise that most of the older generation are hesitant at liking a democratic socialist, such as Bernie Sanders. ....
Gee, as someone who does not like Sanders, I thought it was just because he was a loser of a politician who was eminently unlikeable.
Who would have thought? It's all because he's a commie?
How come I like Putin then?
Because he's not a commie or like Putin at all... He claims to be a "democratic socialist" which pertains to a different ideology.
I guess he isn't the most charismatic guy either... old, wrinkly, Bernie... You'd be surprised how much support he's gotten with the younger liberal voters though.
my view, the term 'democratic socialist' refers to his belief or view on how a government should be ran. i posted earlier about how i viewed government as made up of two models, a political and economic model. sanders' view is that a country should be ran democratically, as it is being done so now (more or less) through representative democracy. however, he believes that there should be a socialist framework for how the economy should run, with the government handling production / distribution with a socialist economic model (the public sector prevalent as opposed to the private sector being prevalent, ie capitalism).
communism would refer to the combination of a oligarchical or monarchical government system coupled with a socialist economic system (communist russia). i can also see why sander's economic views are appealing to a lot of people; capitalism has essentially trampled the economic system of the US (1%, all that stuff), and people are willing to look to something different even if they may not know much about it (they hear socialism and they immediately jump to sickle and hammer communism), and its not out of the realm of possibility either. i think thats the major reason why people support trump: theyve had enough of sophisticated - sounding politicians accomplishing nothing, and want to see the polar opposite in power to see if they would get something, anything done to better the country.