Communism vs. Socialism: What's The Difference?

There's a lot of confusion surrounding the terms Communism and Socialism. The two are often used interchangeably, even by entire governments and political leaders, but they are not the same at all! So what’s the difference? Find out in this quick explainer.

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NowThis World is dedicated to bringing you topical explainers about the world around you. Each week we’ll be exploring current stories in international news, by examining the facts, providing historical context, and outlining the key players involved. We’ll also highlight powerful countries, ideologies, influential leaders, and ongoing global conflicts that are shaping the current landscape of the international community across the globe today.

[webiplus]

"stop using my quotes to win internet arguments"
- all philosophers

[immad]

"Why 90% of comments section is in qoute form?"
-Me

[Sparky]

"Never Gonna Give you Up"
- Rick Astley

[thomasplatt]

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”
-Wayne Gretzky

-Michael Scott

[lucassands]

In a free society, there will be inequality. In a truly equal society, nobody will be free.

Edit: I cant believe people are arguing over a comment I made when I was 15 lmao

[jasonle]

“Everything sounds much more serious if it’s in quotations”
-Abraham Lincoln

[martindemchenko]

I love the idea, but the sad reality is that no government can be trusted to distribute money equally among all people.

[KDfarinx]

"he a runner he a trackstar"

-lenin, probably

[rohanjeetdas]

"W.A.P"
-- Karl "B" Marx

[aishanisaikia]

"I wished to live in the same era as Cardi B"
- Karl Marx

[onionrangerduck]

I love how people use the term "equal" to represent forced total equality, then use it to describe Communism, when the most famous Communism quote is "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs", a sentence that literally says "no it's not equal"

[kakolusi]

"If all the doors of life gets closed, use window instead"
-a thief

[SydAliHsn]

"I'm a barbie girl in the barbie world"
- Abraham Lincoln -

[bobrobertson]

Someone once said that "If voting made a difference, they wouldn't let us do it. "

[johnhall]

Stalinism as an ideology doesn't properly exist; in fact Stalin himself was not a "Stalinist, " but a Marxist-Leninist. Stalinism simply refers to the policies enacted by Stalin, but he wasn't following his own separate ideology when forming or enacting those policies, he was simply following Marxist-Leninist thought

[willbrink]

Anyone who spends one day in government knows you don't want centralized government controlling the means of production.

[fr_shlysqueez_]

"I said certified freak, seven days a week..."
- Joseph Stalin

[nickschulte]

“Dark humor is like food, not everyone gets it.”

Stalin

[santanu_tripathy]

This is the most complete and efficient video I have watched so far to distinguish/define socialism and communism

[theredjoker]

Communism is the higher stage of Socialism which means a non-capitalist society. A capitalist market-economy with social welfare programmes, social security etc. is called Social-Democracy or Social-Liberalism.