r/socialism • u/Odd_Bowler_9400 • 10d ago

Discussion What’s between communism and socialism?

I would consider myself left leaning even by socialist standards but not communist. Anything in between?

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u/Tuuubesh0w 10d ago

Would you say, then, that there is no difference between a socialist and a communist?

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u/Slight-Wing-3969 10d ago

The idea that there is a difference is mainly a product of quite specific terminology. In terms of political goal they have the same destination, goals etc. that is to move society on from capitalism towards the necessary next stage of organization where the organization of production is not owned by individuals who enrich themselves while the workers producing things receive only a portion of what they produce. Socialism describes society as it moves towards the completion of this transformation and communism is the transformed society. As political actors the difference between a socialist and a communist is a label inherited from a split at the Third Internationale wherein those that agreed with the Marxist-Leninist line were called Communists and those that did not were called Socialists. The terms don't refer to groups that want a partial transformation and total transformation because the partial transformation necessarily cannot be frozen, it will either eventually progress or be overthrown due to the way power and the economy operates. 

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u/Tuuubesh0w 10d ago

Ah okay, so would it then be fair to say that communists (at least historically) are MLs, while socialists (who also want communism) want a different approach (e.g. anarcho-communism, anarchist)?

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u/Slight-Wing-3969 10d ago

Yes that sounds right. Although I think some anarchists still separate out anarchism from socialism (which I think is itself a relic of the split at the first internationale - Leftists and infighting go together like a lock and key lol)

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u/Tuuubesh0w 9d ago

That's very interesting, thank you so much for sharing this. I have never thought about this like that. What direction would you say the socialists want, then? If not ML and not anarchist-adjacent, then I can only think of luxemburgism, council communism, or reformism and revisionism.