Parmeshwar Devkota

SCIENTIFIC socialism and democratic socialism are entirely different terminologies in the political philosophy. Democratic socialism is synonymous with utopian socialism. It is like a big pond that has the capacity to absorb the water from various rivulets.

Now, let’s talk about scientific socialism or social democratic system here. It is such a political system which can be compared with a river. If there is no rainfall, there is no flood and landslide in the river and water follows clearly and smoothly. But if there is a heavy rain, there is a flood. So, the river not only swells but also gains speed, takes twists and turns, creates swirls on its ways and follows into the ocean. Similar is the scientific socialist system. It is also known as the social democratic system.

There are some characteristics of this political system. Dialectical materialism is key among them. It is the social, political and economic philosophy which considers that everything under the sun is changeable.
Another point of this theory is that the physical presence of a thing or material is the base of a thought. If there is no brain, thoughts would not come out. A good thought is the outcome of a good brain. So, the physical presence of everything is necessary. In a broad sense, the scientific socialist theory argues that everything in the planet and the cosmos is untestable and perceivable if we have the ability to explore and investigate.
Every society has classes on the basis of economic conditions, it argues. In the latter part of the civilisations, there were economic and social disparities among the people. Some started capturing commodities and some others began hoarding sources of production. As a result, a large segment of people turned workers and poor farmers. They waged struggles for the ownership of the material resources. So, the classes have been in existence since the very beginning when the human beings started living in groups and community.

This theory claims that both the rich as well as the state exploit the poor and the labourers. So, for the proper management of the scarce resources, the cooperatives of workers and labourers should be formed and means of production should be distributed in accordance with their need. It will reduce class disparity and the surplus value. The concept of surplus value proposes that wealthy become wealthier and the poor poorer.
To achieve the classless society, Karl Marx and his followers stressed continuous class struggles for the betterment of the socialist revolution. They believe that class struggles will end the disparity in the human society and lead to the state of human emancipation. Marx said, “Landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed’.

In order to free the society from inequalities, corruption and various other maladies, the conscious people from each and every state have formed political parties based on Marxism. In the present-day Nepal, Nepal Communist Party, led by Rishi Ram Kattel, CPN-Maoist Centre led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Rastriya Janmorcha Nepal, Majdoor Kisan Party, CPN (Marxist-Leninist), CPN-UML and newly formed CPN-Unified Socialist seem to be following this line.