Socialism FAQ

Socialism is one of the most misunderstood and misused terms out there. The root word of socialism is "social". At its most basic core, socialism is the idea that the commanding heights of the economy should be socially owned, instead of being the private property of millionaires and billionaires. It is the idea that working people make the world go round, and because of that, it is they who should run the world, not the wealthy elite.

However, socialism is more than just a nice idea that things could and should be better. Karl Marx famously said 'that philosophers have sought to interpret the world, the point however is to change it.' We couldn't agree more! Our goal isn't just to convince people that socialism is a nice idea, but for it to be a concrete call to action. Fortunately, one of the strengths of the socialist movement is that it has been around for a long time, and as a result there is a wealth of history to draw lessons from.

We've set up this page to both 1.) try to answer some basic questions about socialism, and 2.) provide some resources to activists looking to understand on a deeper level how to tackle the big political questions of the day. Let us know if you have any questions that aren't on this FAQ, as well as any feedback that you have about the essays we've chosen to list here.