https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SocialismSocialism is a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership and democratic control of the means of production,[7] as well as the political ideologies, theories, and movements that aim at their establishment.[8] Social ownership may refer to public ownership, cooperative ownership, citizen ownership of equity, or any combination of these.[9] Although there are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them,[10] social ownership is the common element shared by its various forms.
On paper the above sounds much better than a single person (a virtual monarch in all but name) having complete authority over the means of a community's production. You would think that most ordinary people would be in favor of socialism over the private ownership of the economy. After all, in a democracy a million votes from ordinary workers should outweigh a handful of votes from a few wealthy business owners. But in practice none of this seems to be the case, (at least not in the US). In a sense it really does seem odd.
Can this "disconnect" between the interests of the whole and the interests of the few be completely explained in terms of propaganda? If so, how can the few manage to keep almost EVEYRONE in line? Or how is it that a system can be completely dominated by the few?
Clearly we human beings, as a species, have probably spent a large portion of our civilized history living under the rule of kings, monarchs or oligarchs. Is there something about our species, some sort of genetic predisposition that allows such a state of affairs to exist? Are we like ants in some remote respects who probably couldn't even envision overthrowing their "queen"? And yet, even if there is some disposition keeping us loyal to the rulers of the hive, it seems to be the case that we, nevertheless, have these strange concepts such as "democracy", "equality" and such that tell us differently. Are we just a confused species that can't make up it's mind whether it wants democracy or dictatorship?
What thoughts do others have on the topic of socialism?