A guide to understanding socialism

Bob Hughes

Opinion

Over the years here I have been called a “lefty communist” and a “watermelon” (green outside, red inside); been told I live in a cave, and that “as a worm” I would “do an admirable job” (John Fricker, 2019); and most recently Peter Jones responded to a column of mine by saying, “I note we just voted against communism. Lol.”

I assure Peter and others that no communist candidates stood in the recent general election. However, some would undoubtedly be socialists.

I explain: capitalism is based on individual initiative and favours market mechanisms over government intervention, while socialism is based on government planning and limitations on private control of resources. Few countries today are purely one or the other.

In the United States, capitalism has always been the prevailing system. It is defined as an economic system in which private individuals or businesses, rather than the government, own and control the factors of production, entrepreneurship, capital goods, and natural resources. Capitalism is viewed positively by about two-thirds of Americans. American Republicans see socialism as government control, and put socialism and communism in the same slot.

During the Cold War, communism was feared by capitalists here and in other Western countries — the so-called “reds under the bed” was often used by Labour’s opposition.

In 1975 a controversial political advert, played only twice on local television, helped bring National a landslide win.

More recently David Seymour of Act said, “Labour’s latest plan to expand the role of the government in the economy is communism by stealth.”

It helps to know the truth about the New Zealand Labour Party’s history.

The NZ Labour Party was formed in 1916 to represent various socialist parties and trade unions. It is the country’s oldest political party still in existence.

Labour first came to power under prime ministers Michael Joseph Savage and Peter Fraser from 1935 to 1949, when it established New Zealand’s welfare state.

It was a socialist party: principles included a guaranteed minimum standard of living for everyone, nationalisation of industry, and heavy taxation of large incomes and wealth.

However, the socialist theme was doomed to be eroded. Two years after losing the 1949 election, not wishing to be linked to communism, the Labour Party withdrew  “the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange” from its manifesto, thereby throwing its doors open to capitalism.

I remind readers from my recent column: because they considered communism a threat to the free world, the House Un-American Activities Committee viciously turned on likely communist suspects, who were not given a chance to clear their names and could be blacklisted and find themselves without friends or jobs.

I add here that the US entertainment industry was targeted. Some, like Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Alan Lomax, Paul Robeson and Yip Harburg, were forced to leave the US or go underground to find work.

The fear of being labelled communist swept the Western world.

I add here, similar fears persist today.

Again, few countries are solely capitalist or socialist.

After the Soviet Union fell, Russia embraced capitalism. Today the Russian ultra-rich are among the biggest owners of private jets and superyachts. Also, China is both capitalist and communist, and facing economic challenges.

Celebrated English writer HG Wells was a committed socialist. In his 1914 novel The World Set Free, he wrote of humanity’s recovery from a mid-20th century global nuclear war, and the formation of a new world government under universal rule.

Although that nuclear war remains fiction, I am concerned that if humanity’s squabbling  continues, HG Wells’ famous “If we don’t end war, war will end us” quote might be fulfilled.