Summary
Utopian socialists were a group of thinkers who believed that it was possible to create a moral and just society by eradicating evil. They presented a distant vision of an ethically just society in which everybody had good morals and people were treated equally. One of the major utopian socialist ideas is the promotion of good morals (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). During the industrial revolution, individuals worked for many hours and were subjected to fatalities due to exhaustion. Their goal was to improve the working conditions and improve the economic, social, and political systems that existed at the time. They also believed in the creation of a utopian socialist society in which problems would be minimized because of people’s good morals (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). Utopian socialists believed that education was an important aspect of a humane society, change was possible without violence, and it was possible to distribute wealth equally among people (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). They held that people of good morals put the welfare of the majority before theirs. As a result, violence would not be needed in the fight for equality and justice.
Why Early Socialists Fail to Make Changes
The early socialists fail to make changes because the system that they proposed did not deliver its promises of security, prosperity, and equality. On the contrary, it created poverty, tyrannical authorities, and widespread misery. Critics have argued that equality was only achieved in the sense that every individual was wallowing in misery and poverty. Early socialism failed primarily because of the lack of central planning (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). The initial illusion of success gave governments the impetus to fully embrace the system, disregarding its apparent weaknesses and potential for failure. In many civilizations, the system has resulted in tyranny and severe poverty. Socialism always fails because of its inconsistency with regard to the principles of human behavior (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). For instance, people work harder when they are motivated either internally or externally. Socialism fails to make changes because of its disregard for incentives. An economy in which property is state-owned and market prices or profits are nonexistent lacks incentives that are needed for the direction of economic activity (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). The failure of socialism can be attributed to its failure to recognize the role that incentives play in influencing human behavior, and therefore, stimulating economic activity. The security that it promises is illusory because with time, people lose the impulse to work as personal development is limited.
How Scientific Socialism Improved from the Utopian Ideas
Scientific socialism was a system of understanding and predicting social, political, and economic outcomes by studying their historical trends using scientific methods in order to predict their future changes (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). Unlike utopian socialists who believed that social developments were determined by ideas, scientific socialists believed that societal developments were primarily determined by economic conditions. Utopian socialists believed that change was only possible through shifts in moral values and external conditions (DeMartino & McCloskey, 2016). However, scientific socialists held that revolution and socialism were the major components of progress.
References
Ayres, R. U. (2020). On capitalism and inequality: progress and poverty revisited. Springer.
DeMartino, G. F., & McCloskey, D. N. (2016). The Oxford handbook of professional economic ethics. Oxford University Press.
Hausman, D., McPherson, M., & Satz, D. (2017). Economic analysis, moral philosophy, and public policy (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Hodgson, G. M. (2015). Conceptualizing Capitalism: Institutions, evolution, future. The University of Chicago Press.