Socialism

In Marxist philosophy, the bourgeoisie refers to the capitalist class that owns the means of production and controls economic resources in a capitalist society. Marx viewed the bourgeoisie as the ruling class that exploits the proletariat, or working class, who sell their labor for wages. This relationship creates inherent class conflict, as the interests of the bourgeoisie often contradict those of the proletariat, leading to social and economic inequalities. Ultimately, Marx envisioned a revolutionary transformation where the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie, leading to a classless society.

National Socialism, often associated with the Nazi Party in Germany, was primarily founded by Adolf Hitler. He became the party's leader in the early 1920s and shaped its ideology, which combined elements of nationalism, racism, and anti-communism. The movement gained significant traction after World War I, ultimately leading to Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s.

Shaw asserted that each social class strove to serve its own ends, and that the upper and middle classes won in the struggle while the working class lost. He condemned the democratic system of his time, saying that workers, ruthlessly exploited by greedy employers, lived in abject poverty and were too ignorant and apathetic to vote intelligently. He believed this deficiency would ultimately be corrected by the emergence of long-lived supermen with experience and intelligence enough to govern properly. He called the developmental process elective breeding but it is sometimes referred to as shavian eugenics, largely because he thought it was driven by a "Life Force" that led women --- subconsciously --- to select the mates most likely to give them superior children. The outcome Shaw envisioned is dramatised in Back to Methuselah, a monumental play depicting human development from its beginning in the Garden of Eden until the distant future.

In 1882, influenced by Henry George's views on land nationalization, Shaw concluded that private ownership of land and its exploitation for personal profit was a form of theft, and advocated equitable distribution of land and natural resources and their control by governments intent on promoting the commonwealth. Shaw believed that income for individuals should come solely from the sale of their own labour and that poverty could be eliminated by giving equal pay to everyone. These concepts led Shaw to apply for membership of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), led by H. M. Hyndman who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx. Shaw never joined the SDF, which favoured forcible reforms. Instead, in 1884, he joined the newly formed Fabian Society, which accorded with his belief that reform should be gradual and induced by peaceful means rather than by outright revolution. Shaw was an active Fabian. He wrote many of their pamphlets, lectured tirelessly on behalf of their causes and provided money to set up The New Age, an independent socialist journal. As a Fabian, he participated in the formation of the Labour Party. The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism provides a clear statement of his socialistic views. As evinced in plays like Major Barbara and Pygmalion, class struggle is a motif in much of Shaw's writing.

Oscar Wilde was the sole literary signatory of Shaw's petition for a pardon of the anarchists arrested (and later executed) after the haymarket massacre in Chicago in 1886.

Shaw opposed the execution of Sir Roger Casement in 1916. He wrote a letter "as an Irishman" to The Times, which they rejected, but it was subsequently printed by both the Manchester Guardian on 22 July 1916, and by the New York American on 13 August 1916.

Shaw was not necessarily better informed about actual conditions in other countries than other people were at the time, and tended to believe the best of people who professed similar principles to those he held himself. This led to him taking some positions that now seem grotesque.

After visiting the USSR in 1931 and meeting Joseph Stalin, Shaw became a supporter of the Stalinist USSR. On 11 October 1931 he broadcast a lecture on American national radio telling his audience that any 'skilled work man of suitable age and good character' would be welcomed and given work in the Soviet Union. Tim Tzouliadis asserts that hundreds of Americans responded to his suggestion and left for the USSR

a state-run economy

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were pivotal in the development of socialism, particularly through their co-authorship of "The Communist Manifesto" in 1848, which outlined their critique of capitalism and the class struggle. They argued for a revolutionary approach to achieve a classless society, where the means of production are collectively owned. Their ideas laid the theoretical foundation for various socialist movements and significantly influenced the course of modern political thought, leading to the establishment of socialist and communist parties worldwide.

As of October 2023, there are very few countries with a monarchy that can be described as socialist. The most notable example is the Kingdom of Bhutan, which has a constitutional monarchy and has adopted some socialist principles in its development policies, particularly focusing on Gross National Happiness. Other countries with monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia or Brunei, have aspects of welfare state policies but do not fit the traditional definition of socialism. Overall, the intersection of monarchy and socialism is quite rare.

Production carried out directly for use, social ownership of large-scale industries, and collective decision-making within enterprises.

It is contrasted with capitalism, which is based on: Production carried out for private profit, private ownership of large-scale industries, and hierarchical decision-making within enterprises.

Equity

The Russian Civil War broke out because many Russians never favored the rule of the Bolsheviks under Lenin. The Bolshevik Revolution was a military coup rather than a popular revolution. The Bolshevik Party was a minority party even among the other revolutionary parties such as the Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Constitutional Democrats and others. Not only was it a minority party, but its policies were actively disliked by many if not most of the people in the country.

The Bolshevik takeover was tolerated because it was felt that a temporary communist government would be better than the conservative Provisional Government. They also felt that the Bolsheviks would never be able to retain control of the government since they would be voted out of power once the proposed democratically elected Constituent Assembly instituted a proper form of government. Then the Bolsheviks refused to permit the Constituent Assembly to sit, arrested most of the members of the other political parties and suppressed all opposition to their rule. Many Russians, including Russian army commanders were either completely opposed to Bolshevik rule or so disillusioned by the repressive tactics of the Bolsheviks that they became determined to oust the Bolsheviks from power by force. This became the Russian Civil War.