Political Differences in Capitalism and Socialism

By Elio Delgado Legon

HAVANA TIMES – Every day, when I watch the news and see the things that are happening in the capitalist world, I am grateful that I live in a country that has gone ahead with a socialist revolution. A country where people who remain united, defending the political system and supporting (mostly) revolutionary politicians.

We can see stark differences in both systems when we compare their political characteristics. In socialism, politicians stand out for their moral and ethical qualities, and their professional competence. They climb the ranks depending on the results they achieve at work. As a result, when taking a government position, they do this job with the utmost efficiency. They are always focused on doing what’s best for the general population.

In capitalism, politicians are chosen by their parties based on other characteristics. This might be their personal fortune, whether they have been successful in business, whether they are charismatic enough to win over voters. Knowing a lot about their political position doesn’t really matter. They just need to be focused on doing what’s best for the wealthy, the capitalists. Even if their general population are starving. This is why, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, in times of economic crisis.

Unity or division

Another stark difference between socialist and capitalist politics is unity in the former and the lack of it in the latter. For example, when a government belongs to a party and the opposition holds the majority of Parliament, no policy or laws ever get approved, even if the general population are in desperate need of them. This is because they only have their sights on making the government’s job hard, so that they don’t receive the population’s support in the next general election. Time flies by in this tug-of-war, while the general population suffers the consequences in the meantime.

Socialism doesn’t have this dichotomy of interests, because both the government and Parliament have the same objective. Therefore, there is no contradiction, everything is done to benefit the general population, not a handful of capitalists.

We constantly see people in capitalist countries protesting government measures that harm them. Police repression soon follows, with deaths, people injured and arrested as a result. I don’t need to give you any examples, you can see them on the news every day.

It’s safer for foreign investors to invest in socialist countries, because they aren’t susceptible to changes of government or legislation.

When a government of a country signs an agreement, successive governments are forced to comply with them, but this practice is being violated all the time in many countries.

The example of Colombia

For example, the peace agreement in Colombia. The government signed it with the guerrilla forces, and many people all over the world praised the agreement, including the UN General Secretary.

However, when the government changed in this country, it began to place obstacles so that it wouldn’t be upheld and the result now, is that we learn of the murders of former guerrilla members, every day, as well as of social leaders, and the government is doing nothing to stop these massacres.

Paramilitaries have taken over territories previously controlled by guerrilla forces, and they continue with their excessive violence. In the meantime, farmers are suffering the consequences, but Colombian politicians aren’t worried at all about that.

The most recent example has been what has happened with the change in the US government in 2016. President Trump reversed all the policies that the former president had enacted.  He withdrew from every international agreement, that had taken a lot of effort and negotiations. These included the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Nuclear Agreement signed with Iran. Now, Biden will have to redo everything undone Trump, successful as a businessman, but a complete failure as a leader.

These things don’t happen when there is a socialist government. These are some of the main differences between the two political systems.

Read more from Elio Delgado Legon’s diary here.