What is socialism? It is a question that I, along with many of my peers, did not know the answer to before coming to college. What did I know? That it was horrible, was the antithesis to capitalism, and representative, along with Communism, of every enemy the United States has known since after the second World War excluding terrorists.

What I knew about the social system of socialism was incomplete, inaccurate, and misguided. I would speculate that, based on conversation with peers, that most of us share this one-sided and incomplete view of this alternate system of social organization.

What I will be doing is providing the outlines of a theoretical conception of what socialism would be and accomplish, and will not be making a commentary on any attempts to enact them in the real world. The theory of socialism is in reality different than it's versions that we have seen in South and Central America.

First, socialism will look to accomplish the abolition of private ownership of large-scale means production. The greater voice for even the lowest workers will be a result of this change, meaning exploitation and huge profit margins from top executives will no longer be the norm. Democratic and participatory engagement in the outcomes of the enterprise will ensure the minimization, if not eradication, of economic inequality.

Another thing socialism will look to a accomplish is economic planning/production for use rather than for private profit. This is essential to preserve our planet and our home. Capitalism is based on unstoppable growth and everything but the latest trend gets cast aside with impunity.

This is unsustainable in the long run and we will soon exhaust the finite resources that the Earth has to offer. Production based on use will increase the time for creative leisure and lessen the strain on the average worker.

Full democracy as opposed to representative democracy. What came as a surprise to me personally was that our conception o democracy is in fact very limited. Our ability to directly influence the government in economic outcomes especially is very almost nonexistent. Direct democracy is often dismissed as being implausible due to the huge scale with which it would need to operate.

The fact is that it has never been attempted, and it would elicit greater political efficacy and participation from every citizen. Greater public participation in economic decisions would also be an effect of direct democracy as opposed to the domination of this sphere of life by the corporate conservative elite.

Another goal of socialism is the expansion of leisure and opportunities for personal and cultural development. Without the overarching goal of constant profit, constant consumption of goods and new trends, the goal is for individuals to take advantage to take advantage of the more communal nature of society to engage their passions and interests along with others who share the same values. Too often, enjoyable activities get pushed out of our schedules by increasing demands at work or at school. Socialism offers an entirely new approach to self-development.

A common knock on socialism is that everyone would be treated as if they were same which would lead to a monotone existence. This view involves a misconception of the meaning of the word equality. Equality does not mean treating everyone the same but treating each person down to what they need. As we currently operate within a capitalist system that is based on inequality, imagine if we lived in a society that treated everyone as equals.