Is Socialism still relevant today?

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Is Socialism still relevant today?

The ideologies of socialism once shook the western world, for some it was a spectre of hope, for emancipation, equality and freedom. For others socialism represented dictatorship, totalitarianism and barbarism. However, in the last thirty years the spread of liberal capitalism has caused many to question the relevancy of socialism today. This essay will argue that the influence of socialism on current policies affirms its relevance in today’s political sphere. This will be shown through the prevalence of social democracies, the lower levels of inequality within states with social democratic policies, and finally through the ability of these nation states to remain competitive within the global market. This essay will place particular emphasis on comparisons drawn between the United States, a fundamentally liberal state, and Sweden, a particularly significant social-democracy.

Today it seems liberal capitalism, being led particularly in the United States, has triumphed over socialism (Gaus n.d.) and this certainly seems obvious and true in the ideological sense of the word. Countries which label themselves as ‘communist’ or ‘socialist’ have adopted many capitalist policies regarding market openness and world trade, such as in Vietnam (Johnson 2007). Undoubtedly, almost all countries in the modern world adopt liberal-capitalist policies. However, socialism and its ideas still live on through the influence which it has over many countries and it continues to be a topical discussion for debate. As a result, whilst the ideological forms of socialism have passed away; the influences of socialist principles in today’s governments, particularly in countries such as Sweden, persevere and shape societies around the world.

In 1989 the capitalist west claimed victory over the communist east as the Berlin Wall was torn down. This, some argued, marked the death of communism and the ushering in of the ultimate political system (Fukuyama 2004a, 1992b). However, socialism has continued to thrive throughout the globe through the spread of social democracy. Social democratic parties exist in many countries, from Croatia (SDP 2009) and Estonia (SDE 2008) to Korea (GSDP 2009) and the United Kingdom (SDP 2009). In addition, there are numerous nation states where social democratic parties are in power, such as in Sweden (Socialdemokraterna 2003) and Australia (ALP 2010). Social democratic countries around the world continue to advance and support the welfare of their citizens. The very existence of such parties affirms socialism and its principles within modern governance.

One of the more important events for social democracy in recent history occurred in November 2008 as Barack Obama was elected president in the United States (The White House 2009). Since being sworn in on January 20 2009, the Obama Administration has introduced a number of important social reforms, most notably the recent success in attempts to reform the United States health care system. These changes will include “better benefits for seniors and low-income and middle class families” (CBS & AP 2010) and mark a historic victory for social democratic principles over a fundamentally liberal nation state. Undoubtedly, it can be seen that through the prevalence of social democracies world wide, including global superpowers, socialism is still relevant in today’s political sphere.

The principle of equality is one which liberals and socialists have contested excitedly. Socialists argue that equality is represented in the equality of outcome. In contrast, liberals argue that equality of opportunity must be achieved to promote hard work and self preservation. However, Giddens (1999) argues that the liberal faith in equality of opportunity is fundamentally floored because it is based on the principles of meritocracy. Giddens also argues that someone who is marginally more talented than one person is rewarded disproportionately. For example, Tiger Woods is the number one golfer in world and has earned over ninety-two million dollars during his career, thirty million more than the sports second highest earner, and more than double the fourth highest (PGA 2010). With this in mind one can see that equality of opportunity does not promote equality, but in fact fosters inequality because of society’s bias towards one professional over another. This is reflected in the economy of the United States, one of the worlds more fundamental liberal societies, where overall income has grown, but almost all of that growth has been within the highest earning twenty percent of the population, and the largest gains have been within the top one percent. Subsequently the wages for the bottom sixty percent have either remained level or fallen and economic inequality has grown substantially (Collins 2005). The United States suffers from one of the highest poverty ratings within a developed country and suffers from a very mixed human rights record where many of its citizens suffer from discrimination and persecution (CountryWatch Incorp. 2010a).

In contrast, Sweden ranks first in the Human Poverty Index, and sixth in the Human Development Index. Sweden also enjoys one of the best human rights records in the world (CountryWatch Inc. 2010b). Similarly, other countries which have implemented many social policies have also produced very good results in social circumstances. Finland ranks high on both the Human Poverty Index and the Human Development Index (Country Watch Inc. 2010c). Estonia, whilst suffering from high levels of poverty, has good human rights records and developmental standards relative to neighbouring countries (CountryWatch Inc. 2010d). Australia, whilst scoring only fourteenth on the Human Poverty Index, achieved third on the Human Development Index (CountryWatch Inc. 2010e).Therefore it can clearly be seen that countries which introduce socialist policies successfully achieve much higher levels of equality in areas such as poverty and human rights. Socialism must therefore still be relevant in today’s political sphere.

However, concentrating on social welfare does not mean that one must sacrifice global economic competitiveness; countries with social democratic policies still remain prevalent within the global market. The Swedish economy depends highly on its export sector which has been the main force behind Swedish economic growth since the mid 1990’s (CountryWatch Inc. 2010f). Swedish exports during 2006 amounted to around 250 million US dollars and are projected to increase by four point two percent in 2011 (OECD 2009a) and, whilst experiencing negative growth since the 2008 financial crisis, has experienced a growth of nearly eighteen percent Gross Domestic Product per capita since 2003 (CountryWatch Inc.2010g), almost five percent higher than in the United States (CountryWatch Inc. 2010h). In 1995, Sweden attracted over thirteen trillion US dollars in foreign investment capital, which also allowed and supported Swedish owned business to invest elsewhere (Friedenreich & Doyle 1998). These figures reflect and prove that Sweden is a capable and present force within the global market, despite being heavily influenced by socialist principles.

Additionally, many high-level international corporations are based in Sweden or have strong ties to social democratic countries. For Example ASEA Brown Boveri is essentially a Swiss-Swedish multinational company which leads a number of industries world wide and generates revenues around twenty five billion US dollars per year, the company is based in Switzerland with a number of Swedish senior board officials, including the Chief Executive Officer (Taylor 1991). Sandvik is another Swedish multinational engineering company which generates around 10 billion US dollars and employs 44,000 people operating throughout 130 countries (Sandvik 2010). But regardless of its business enterprises, Sweden still remains the most generous donor towards overseas developmental assistance, donating almost five billion US dollars equating to almost one percent of their gross national income (OECD 2009b). Therefore it has clearly been shown that Sweden, which is here used as a representative for social democratic countries, has remained competitive in the global market, sustained economic growth and encourages foreign investment whilst still being able to generously donate to global development. This clearly demonstrates that socialism is still relevant and functional in today’s modern global market.

To conclude, it has been shown that social democracy is a prevalent force in today’s political sphere in a wide variety of countries; these countries are able to balance economic growth with social support. They foster low levels of inequality, high standards of human rights and positive outcomes in human development. Additionally these countries remain competitive within the global market and are able to achieve high levels of Gross Domestic Product growth, encourage large numbers of foreign investors, and produce high quality multinational corporations which lead industries around the world. Therefore, it can be seen without a doubt that socialism is still a time-honoured, effective and influential ideology.

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Word Limit: 1,500

Grade awarded: Credit (22/30)

Markers comment: "A very good essay!Solid structure with a well developed argument. Good application of theory to analysis and incorporation of real world examples, demonstrating a solid depth of understanding concepts. Written in competent academic style with good evidence of research. However, a heavy relience on internet resources is discourgaed at university and has had a significant impact on your final grade"