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Socialism was never premised on a definition; rather, it was a real phenomenon only later given this name.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbu-AAlqDJg&list=PLAJIhnd1mbiCVeVI3Pu8NihIZzfWMhg5h&index=5 The New Era of Socialism] this article draws heavily on this Infrared Vision video</ref> Socialism was the spontaneous response of consciousness to an objective apocalypse of traditional order and meaning in every sense which took place in late 18th and 19th century Europe. Concretely, this apocalypse took dual form as the Industrial Revolution in England and the political revolution in France. This gave rise to the '''Social Question'''. As the "feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations" which formed the fabric of ''Ancien'' life were torn asunder, the cold brutality of all against all, dog eat dog, and every man for himself took their place. Socialism was simply the practical recognition of this fact and some corresponding program to remedy it. Production had to be reconciled with the majority of people's actual lives, serving social ends to guarantee a minimum of dignified, human life. | Socialism was never premised on a subjective definition or injunction; rather, it was a real phenomenon only later given this name.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbu-AAlqDJg&list=PLAJIhnd1mbiCVeVI3Pu8NihIZzfWMhg5h&index=5 The New Era of Socialism] this article draws heavily on this Infrared Vision video</ref> Socialism was the spontaneous response of consciousness to an objective apocalypse of traditional order and meaning in every sense which took place in late 18th and 19th century Europe. Concretely, this apocalypse took dual form as the Industrial Revolution in England and the political revolution in France. This gave rise to the '''Social Question'''. As the "feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations" which formed the fabric of ''Ancien'' life were torn asunder, the cold brutality of all against all, dog eat dog, and every man for himself took their place. Socialism was simply the practical recognition of this fact and some corresponding program to remedy it. Production had to be reconciled with the majority of people's actual lives, serving social ends to guarantee a minimum of dignified, human life. | ||
For [[Utopian socialism|Utopians]] like '''Simon''' and '''Fourier''', this was an intellectual problem, one which they considered themselves to have solved. Marx departs with the simple premise that capitalism would never voluntarily annihilate itself in service of better angels, as the Utopians suggested, that instead it would ''involuntarily but automatically'' annihilate itself as a mode of production due to objective contradictions essential to its very process of reproduction. Circulation of commodities at exchange value would lead to a falling rate of profit and economic crises which trigger the consolidation of capital under fewer and fewer firms. Somewhere along the line this process would no longer be sustainable as a free system without intervention. Socialism is therefore the sublation of Capitalism in the precise Hegelian sense: ''in preservation'' (cartels setting prices, central banks ordering the economy) ''it passes away'' (competition ceases, property becomes hereditary and institutional). | For [[Utopian socialism|Utopians]] like '''Simon''' and '''Fourier''', this was an intellectual problem, one which they considered themselves to have solved. Marx departs with the simple premise that capitalism would never voluntarily annihilate itself in service of better angels, as the Utopians suggested, that instead it would ''involuntarily but automatically'' annihilate itself as a mode of production due to objective contradictions essential to its very process of reproduction. Circulation of commodities at exchange value would lead to a falling rate of profit and economic crises which trigger the consolidation of capital under fewer and fewer firms. Somewhere along the line this process would no longer be sustainable as a free system without intervention. Socialism is therefore the sublation of Capitalism in the precise Hegelian sense: ''in preservation'' (cartels setting prices, central banks ordering the economy) ''it passes away'' (competition ceases, property becomes hereditary and institutional). | ||