Scientific socialism as a socio-economic system
Prof. Dr. Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry
Scientific socialism as a socio-economic system
Prof. Dr. Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry
Political economy reveals the economic laws and the conditions and incentives for the development of socialist production, thus showing us the methods of developing the material-technical base of socialism. It also studies the relations of production in their dynamic movement and in their connection with the development and improvement of factors of production and the growth and increase of their efficiency. In doing so, it attempts to develop a quantitative and qualitative description of economic phenomena and problems, and sometimes uses mathematical and statistical methods to investigate economic relationships among people.
Basic features of the transition from capitalism to socialism:
Socialism cannot arise within the frameworks of capitalist relations. Only material premises that transform from the capitalist system to the socialist system mature in the embrace of the capitalist system. The transition to socialism does not take place immediately, ready-made and accomplished. Rather, there must be a transitional period, which may be longer or shorter, during which the remnants of the old regime will be eliminated and the foundations of the new socialist society will be laid. This stage is called the transition from capitalism to socialism. This stage begins with the announcement of the establishment of the producers’ political authority, which restores their right to the proceeds of their production and the means of production. After the working class concentrates political power in its hands, it embarks on socialist transformations.
Socialism is not built and achieved all at once immediately after the seizure of power by the proletariat, but requires a relatively long transition from capitalism to socialism. “This is because the reorganization of production is difficult, because it takes time to make radical changes in all spheres of life, and because the enormous power inherent in the management of the economy in the petty-bourgeois and bourgeois way can only be conquered by a stubborn, long-term struggle. Marx therefore speaks of an entire phase of the dictatorship of the proletariat as the stage of transition from capitalism to socialism.” [1]
The transition economy is characterized by its multiple patterns. At this stage, we observe three basic economic patterns: [2]
1 – Socialist style (represented by the working class).
2 – Small commodity type (represented by agricultural investments, artisans and other small producers who do not use wage labour).
3 – Private capitalism (represented by large capitalist projects in the city and countryside that use wage labor).
It is possible that there are economic patterns other than the three mentioned above, as some clan, tribal and feudal relations continue during this stage.
The tasks of building the socialist system begin with the work to end and overcome this multiplicity of patterns by means of economic measures that lead to the spread of socialist relations of production throughout the whole country.
During the transitional period, some measures and procedures must be taken, including:
- Fighting imperialist monopolies, local big bourgeoisie and feudal lords.
- Development of the state sector in the national economy.
- Strict control over foreign capital activity.
- Apply the principle of planning and systematic economy.
- Implement agrarian reforms and encourage agricultural cooperative movement in the countryside.
The pace and depth of socio-economic transformations vary in different countries, but they generally remain the intellectual political, economic and social premises for building the foundations of the socialist system. The transition to socialism involves the creation of new social relations that are completely different from capitalist relations and cannot be created within capitalism.
[1] —Lenin, Complete Works, vol. 38, pp. 385-386.
[2] -Ellen Motiv، What Political Economy, op. cit., p. 367.
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Scientific socialism as a socio-economic system
Scientific socialism as a socio-economic system
Prof. Dr. Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry
Contents
Basic features of the transition from capitalism to socialism: 2
Economic contradictions in transition: 5
General features of socialism as a socio-economic system: 7
Characteristics of socialist society (state of the Soviet Union): 11
Fundamental Economic Law of the Socialist System: 12
The mechanism of operation of the economic system in socialist countries: 15
Reconstruction programme “Perustrika”. 17
Has scientific socialism failed? 22