Communism vs Socialism: Understanding the Difference

Communism advocates for the eventual establishment of a classless society, while socialism refers to a system of social organization in which private property and the distribution of income are subject to social control.

Communism was first used in the mid-19th century to refer to an economic and political theory that advocated the elimination of private property and the common sharing of all resources among a group of people.

The most well-known expression of Karl Marx’s theories is the 20th-century Bolshevism of the U.S.S.R., in which the state, through a single authoritarian party, controlled a society’s economic and social activities with the goal of realizing Marx’s theories.