Socialism is one of the most used economic models across the globe. It ensures that the ruling governments play a part in the lives of the masses. Many nations adopt it as Democratic Socialism to show that the people have freedom and all necessary decisions, especially those related to politics, are taken through democratic means.
Also, equality is a key element of the world’s movement toward social justice, so socialism and communism are appropriate for such a movement because everyone in society is equal, and there are no classes.
What is Socialism?
Socialism is a “political, social and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership of the means of production. It includes the political theories and movements associated with such systems” [Source].
Socialism can also be defined as a “political and economic system in which property and the means of production are owned in common, typically controlled by the state or government.” It is based on the idea that “common ownership of resources and means of production leads to an equal society” [Source].
So, a socialist country will have to be influenced by these definitions and portray conduct similar to the conditions stated.
What is a Socialist country?
According to Wikipedia, a socialist is a “sovereign state in which everyone in the society equally own factors of production” [Source]. The proposed factors of production include labor, capital goods, natural resources, and entrepreneurship. A person is not necessarily linked to these factors but is somehow connected and can benefit.
A socialist country ought to propel both social and individual needs, and the country’s resources are channeled to provide these needs at a large scale. The social needs category includes education, healthcare, defense, transportation, maintenance and preservation of natural resources, and caring for vulnerable groups such as children, the older generation, and those living with disabilities. People who cannot contribute to production are also taken care of as they are provided with their necessities and more.
There should be an umbrella catering mindset that looks after the masses’ welfare and various programs implemented to take care of disadvantaged groups. Also, “everyone in a socialist country receives a share of the production based on their individual needs. Most things aren’t bought with money because they are distributed based on needs rather than means. If a person wished to have more goods, they to find a way for that to become one of their basic needs”.
Are European countries Socialist?
From the perspective of taking care of the masses through various government initiatives, European countries can be described as socialist. This is because most of them have programs that benefit almost every citizen. Examples of these socialist policies include medicare, social security, the minimum wage, and child labor laws [Source]. These programs are part of the elected government. Terry Bodanski noted that socialist programs are basically “public everything,” such as public libraries, parks, toilets, drinking fountains, parking universities, hospitals [Source]; this view qualifies a lot of European nations as socialist.
However, counter arguments say that Europe is more capitalistic than socialistic and tends to prioritize profits over the welfare of people [Source]. This is supported by the fact that many businesses thrive while people suffer. In the past two years, the number of millionaires and poor people in Europe increased. Such is evidence of inequality and distribution of wealth.
Also, many European major companies are privatized and owned by millionaires and billionaires. These countries also have the most marginalized and segregated minority groups who live in the underbellies of ghetto cities. Due to this, one cannot describe European countries as solely socialist.
The principles of socialism state that it is a philosophy that can work hand in hand with other philosophies; because of this, one can note that European countries have a hybrid socialist model. Socialism can be prefixed and suffixed to create hybrid models such as social communism, democratic socialism, liberal socialism.
European nations are a mixed bag of models that do show a socialist tendency, but they are not wholly inclined towards being socialist.
