r/Socialism_101 • u/Outrageous_Big_9136 Learning • 2d ago

Question Those who cannot work?

I'm fairly new to Socialist thought, but if everyone is contributing what they can... how are those taken care of who are of retirement age or are too disabled to work?

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u/TinyEmergencyCake Learning 2d ago

We die. 

Charity doesn't work as a dependable model. We survive only because right now government has to provide subsistence. 

The underfunded dilapidated "projects" we have now will be completely unfunded, and anything new built will be even more segregated than it was built before. 

People in the comments still want me to prove that I'm poor enough and sufficiently unable to work in order to receive food and shelter. 

We have an excellent taxation mechanism. We could literally provide universal income to all without means testing and just tax it back on the high end. 

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u/linuxluser Marxist Theory 1d ago edited 1d ago

You are referring to what is happening under capitalism, where to the state has to "fill in the gaps" that the private sector is unwilling to do. And because the state is run mostly for the interests of the owner class, there is a conflict of interests within it. So the state will cut back on benefits it once thought important due to changing political conditions.

Under socialism, we aim to abolish private propoerty and, thus, private interests within society, for this very reason. Private property is always at odds with society and at war with it. Abolishing private property is about eliminating this form of violence within society and making it so that is is, once again, in everybody's interest to have a healthy society.

This not only increases funding the public programs but increases the quality of these programs substantially. Instead of the "means testing" approach of capitalist programs — where individuals have to prove they are in need constantly — it is taken as a given that if someone is in need, they are entitled to the resources they lack.

You can watch an example of China's approach to poverty, for example, and how it lifted 850 million people out of poverty (something no capitalist nation has ever done): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVY6GUAOPj4

EDIT: And here's a video from Luna Oi that explains the land reforms that Vietnam did as their process of eliminating private property post-revolution: https://youtu.be/vneV-ATS1XE. It's very instructive on how quickly and radically society can improve when private interests are abolished.