Pelaxian Socialism

Pelaxian Socialism is a political, social, and economic philosophy of Marxist origing encompassing a range political theories, and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production. It includes the economic policies and movements associated with such systems. Social ownership can be public, collective, cooperative, or of equity.

While no single definition encapsulates the many types of principles, social ownership is the one common element that has been higlighted in the 21st century.

Historically Pelaxian Socialists disagreed about the degree to which social control or regulation of the economy is necessary, how far society should intervene and whether government, particularly existing government, is the correct vehicle for change. Pelaxian Socialism lines of thought have been divided in non-market and market forms. Non-market socialism substitutes factor markets and money with integrated economic planning and engineering or technical criteria based on calculation performed in-kind, thereby producing a different economic mechanism that functions according to different economic laws and dynamics than those of capitalism. A non-market socialist system eliminates the inefficiencies and crises traditionally associated with capital accumulation and the profit system in capitalism. The socialist calculation debate, originated by the economic calculation problem, concerns the feasibility and methods of resource allocation for a planned socialist system. By contrast, market socialism retains the use of monetary prices, factor markets and in some cases the profit motive, with respect to the operation of socially owned enterprises and the allocation of capital goods between them. Profits generated by these firms would be controlled directly by the workforce of each firm or accrue to society at large in the form of a social dividend.

Pelaxian Socialist politics has been both internationalist and nationalist in orientation; organised through political parties and opposed to party politics; at times overlapping with trade unions and at other times independent and critical of them; and present in both industrialised and developing nations. Social democracy originated within the Pelaxian Socialist movement, supporting economic and social interventions to promote social justice.

While retaining socialism as a long-term goal, since the post-Great War period the Socialist Party of Pelaxia has come to embrace a Keynesian mixed economy within a predominantly developed capitalist market economy and liberal democratic polity that expands state intervention to include income redistribution, regulation and a welfare state. Economic democracy proposes a sort of market socialism, with more democratic control of companies, currencies, investments and natural resources.