| What is at the heart of socialism? | At the heart of socialism is the idea that people are unified by the concept of community. |
| What can this community help people do? | They can use this to overcome any difficulties, both economic and social. |
| Why do socialists agree with this idea? | Socialists believe this because they agree with the idea that the group as a whole is more powerful than that of individual efforts. |
| What is collectivism? | following group goals and not trying to follow individual self-interest. |
| Key quote by John Donne? | ‘no man is an island, entire of it self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.' |
| What do socialists believe about people? | People are not self-sufficient individuals and they can only be understood in relation to society. |
| What do socialists believe about human nature? | Socialists believe that human nature is not formed at birth and claim that it is entirely flexible or ‘plastic’ and is shaped by the environment and experiences of every moment of life. |
| Which ideas have socialists linked? | Socialists have linked the ideas of competition, individualism and selfishness to the idea of private property |
| What do they mean by property? | property not being personal possessions such as clothes, but personal ownership of what is produced or made. |
| What is the first reason socialists criticise private property? | Private property is unjust as there is always more than one person involved in its creation and so they all should share it. |
| What is the first reason socialists criticise private property? | Private property makes people greedy to acquire possessions and therefore creates a lack of morality and causes competition when pursuing wealth. |
| What is the first reason socialists criticise private property? | Property is divisive as it causes conflict between those with different priorities related to that property – for example – owners of factories against their workers. |
| How do revolutionary socialists believe we can reach collectivism? | They believe that collectivism is best achieved through the abolition of private property. They believe that all property should be ‘collectivised’ through being owned by the group (the state). This could be done through ‘nationalisation’; |
| How do social democrats believe we can reach collectivism? | They believe collectivist goals should be promoted through ideas such as progressive taxation, welfare and public services. This would mean using a ‘mixed economy’ such as the one Keynes suggested in the UK in the post-war era. |
