terms

[left menace]

Hi im new and wanted to ask a few questions. I pretty much know a lot of things about the left and consider myself a communist, but some things still confuse me. Mainly it's the terms.
okay so if someone could give a brief definiton of the terms i'm about to list would be great.

Socialism:
Communism:
Communist:
Marxist:
Anarchist:

oh and a some questions.


if i believe that there needs to be a socialist state before communism is acheived im a marxist right? so therefore a communist? therefore for a socialist?

[insurgent]

All those definitions are plastered all over the site my friend.


Take a look at the pinned topics

I think they'll help you out a lot

[Janus]

Please use the search engine in the future.
http://www.revleft.com/index.php?showtopic=25786

definitions (http://www.revleft.com/index.php?showtopic=60831&hl=definition)

[Fawkes]

if i believe that there needs to be a socialist state before communism is acheived im a marxist right?

Yes.

[Whitten]

Socialism: An economic (and usually social) system in which the means of production (industry/land etc) are collectivly owned, as opposed to privatly owned. The means of controling the means of production varies from system to system, although state (democratic) ownership and workers councils tend to be the main ones. There are many types of socialist, including communists, anarchists, syndicalists, and reformists (democratic socialists). The term socialism is sometimes used to refer to regulated market economies like Sweeden, but that is an incorrect usage of the work as most of the means of production there is still privatly owned.

Communism: A form of socialism in which society is stateless and classless. All power is decentralised and the economy is run on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need". The term is incorrectly used in the media, and unforunatly in most history books, to refer to the political system of the USSR and Warsaw pact countries, however these countries were only ever socialist at best.

Communist: An advocate of a communist society. The term is often used interchangable with "marxist" however there are now non-marxist ideologies which seek communism as their final goal, libertarian/anarchist communism being the main example.

Marxist: Someone who uses the scientific methods of marxism, who seek to apply real principles of economic sciences and sociology as tools in the class struggle and strongly reject utopianism. I may be somewhat biased on this as I am one.

Anarchist: In the most general sense an anarchist seeks to overthrow of the state. Anarchism has historicly been leftwing and anti-capitalist and most seek similar goals as marxists. The main difference between the two ideologies is that anarchists demand the immediate overthrow of the state (marxists see this as utopian and unscientific). There are a number of varieties including the right wing anarcho-capitalism, whos supporters are obviously not welcome here.


if i believe that there needs to be a socialist state before communism is acheived im a marxist right? so therefore a communist? therefore for a socialist?

Not necessarily. A marxist believes that a scoialist state must be established before communism is achieved, yes, however that wouldnt necessarily make you a marxist.

And Yes, all marxists are communist, and all communists are socialists.

[More Fire for the People]

Socialism: a mode of production in which the means of production are owned in common and labor is remunerated according to [i]deed.

Communism: a mode of production where the means of production are owned in common and labor is remunerated according to need.

Communist: a Marxist advocate of communism.
Marxist: a person who utilizes Marx's theoretical tools to breakdown human social relations under particular economic modes of production.

Anarchist: someone who advocates an anti-statist approach to communism.