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169-514: Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until his death in 1973 . As a socialist committed to democracy, he has been described as the first Marxist to be elected president in a liberal democracy in Latin America. Allende's involvement in Chilean politics spanned
338-556: A bourgeoisie indifferent to the proletariat . The history of socialism has its origins in the Age of Enlightenment and the 1789 French Revolution , along with the changes that brought, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas. The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1847-48 just before the Revolutions of 1848 swept Europe, expressing what they termed scientific socialism . In
507-492: A neoliberal consensus replaced the social democratic consensus in the advanced capitalist world, while many former socialist politicians and political parties embraced " Third Way " politics, remaining committed to equality and welfare while abandoning public ownership and class-based politics. Socialism experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 2010s, most prominently in the form of democratic socialism. According to Andrew Vincent, "[t]he word 'socialism' finds its root in
676-471: A post-capitalist system based on some form of social ownership of the means of production. By the early 1920s, communism and social democracy had become the two dominant political tendencies within the international socialist movement, with socialism itself becoming the most influential secular movement of the 20th century. Many socialists also adopted the causes of other social movements, such as feminism , environmentalism , and progressivism . While
845-420: A welfare state . The socialist political movement includes political philosophies that originated in the revolutionary movements of the mid-to-late 18th century and out of concern for the social problems that socialists associated with capitalism. By the late 19th century, after the work of Karl Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels , socialism had come to signify anti-capitalism and advocacy for
1014-453: A 5.6% negative growth, and the government's fiscal deficit soared while foreign reserves declined. Unemployment rates had dropped from 6.3% in 1970 to 3.5% in 1972 before dropping again in 1973 to the lowest ever recorded. The combination of inflation and price controls, together with the disappearance of basic commodities from supermarket shelves, led to the rise of black markets in rice, beans, sugar, and flour. The Chilean economic situation
1183-657: A Latin American organisation for the development of science and technology appropriate to the region." He began negotiations with Bolivia over the historical dispute between the two countries (Bolivia had lost access to the sea since the War of the Pacific between 1879 and 1884) and welcomed Bolivia's maritime request. Nevertheless, relations became tense again following a coup d'état by Bolivian General Hugo Banzer in August 1971. At
1352-659: A civilian government, and Chile was later ruled by the Government Junta , ending more than four decades of uninterrupted democratic governance, a period known as the Presidential Republic . The military junta that took over dissolved Congress, suspended the Constitution of 1925 , and initiated a program of persecuting alleged dissidents, in which at least 3,095 civilians disappeared or were killed. Pinochet's military dictatorship only ended after
1521-478: A close three-way race. He was elected in a run-off by Congress , as no candidate had gained a majority. In office, Allende pursued a policy he called " The Chilean Path to Socialism ". The coalition government was far from unanimous. Allende said that he was committed to democracy and represented the more moderate faction of the Socialist Party, while the radical wing sought a more radical course. Instead,
1690-419: A conscious desire in the working class to establish collective ownership commensurate with the collective efforts their daily experience. Socialists have taken different perspectives on the state and the role it should play in revolutionary struggles, in constructing socialism and within an established socialist economy. In the 19th century, the philosophy of state socialism was first explicitly expounded by
1859-473: A constant rate of profit, causes problems if the earnings in the rest of society do not increase in proportion. Socialists view private property relations as limiting the potential of productive forces in the economy. According to socialists, private property becomes obsolete when it concentrates into centralised, socialised institutions based on private appropriation of revenue — but based on cooperative work and internal planning in allocation of inputs—until
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#17327655086512028-513: A coup. Socialist Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production , as opposed to private ownership . It describes the economic , political , and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems. Social ownership can take various forms, including public , community , collective , cooperative , or employee . As one of
2197-462: A day. Culture came into the reach of the masses for the first time, who responded enthusiastically. "Editorial Quimantu" encouraged the establishment of libraries in community organizations and trade unions. Through the supply of cheap textbooks, it enabled the Left to progress through the ideological content of the literature made available to workers. To improve social and economic conditions for women,
2366-504: A diverse range of philosophies such as civic republicanism , Enlightenment rationalism , romanticism , forms of materialism , Christianity (both Catholic and Protestant), natural law and natural rights theory , utilitarianism and liberal political economy. Another philosophical basis for a great deal of early socialism was the emergence of positivism during the European Enlightenment . Positivism held that both
2535-639: A former president, with 27.8% going to a third candidate, Radomiro Tomic of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). According to the Chilean constitution of the time, if no presidential candidate obtained a majority of the popular vote, Congress would choose one of the two candidates with the highest number of votes as the winner. Tradition was for Congress to vote for the candidate with the highest popular vote, regardless of margin. Former president Jorge Alessandri had been elected in 1958 with
2704-423: A free milk program for schoolchildren and in shanty towns of Chile, and an expansion of the land seizure and redistribution already begun under his predecessor Eduardo Frei Montalva , who had nationalized between one-fifth and one-quarter of all the properties listed for takeover. Allende also intended to improve the socio-economic welfare of Chile's poorest citizens; a key element was to provide employment, either in
2873-515: A livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society. — Albert Einstein , " Why Socialism? ", 1949 Socialist economics starts from the premise that "individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce
3042-496: A middle-class revolution that was funded by the United States government's Alliance for Progress . Frei carried out a series of progressive reforms, including land reform , an issue that had not been touched since Chile's independence in the early 19th century. According to historian Marian Schlotterbeck, this was "[John F.] Kennedy's vision –?stave off the threat of communist revolution by improving standards of living across
3211-432: A peak of $ 66 per ton in 1970 to only $ 48–49 in 1971 and 1972. Chile was already dependent on food imports, and the decline in export earnings coincided with declines in domestic food production following Allende's agrarian reforms. In 1971, Chile re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba, joining Mexico and Canada in rejecting a previously established Organization of American States convention prohibiting governments in
3380-548: A period of nearly forty years, during which he held various positions including senator , deputy , and cabinet minister . As a life-long committed member of the Socialist Party of Chile , whose foundation he had actively contributed to, he unsuccessfully ran for the national presidency in the 1952 , 1958 , and 1964 elections. In 1970 , he won the presidency as the candidate of the Popular Unity coalition in
3549-692: A physician and anatomo-pathologist in the morgue of the Van Buren Hospital. He became the union leader of the Valparaíso doctors, becoming 1st Regional Secretary in Valparaíso. In 1935, at age 27, he was relegated to the city of Caldera for the second time and, in 1936, he was imprisoned in the Popular Front in Valparaíso. In 1937, he was elected Deputy of Valparaíso and Aconcagua and, in 1938, he served as Undersecretary General of
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#17327655086513718-755: A plurality of 31.6% over Allende's 28.85%. One month after the election, on 20 October, while the Senate had still to reach a decision and negotiations were actively in place between the Christian Democrats and the Popular Unity, General René Schneider , Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army, was shot resisting a kidnap attempt by a group led by General Roberto Viaux . Hospitalized, he died of his wounds three days later on 23 October. Schneider
3887-444: A proposed increase in electricity prices, restored diplomatic relations with Cuba, and granted amnesty to various political prisoners. In December 1970, the administration fixed bread prices; sent 55,000 volunteers to the south of the country to teach writing and reading skills and provide medical attention to an underserved sector of the population; established a central commission to oversee a tripartite payment plan in which equal place
4056-406: A result of contradictions in society due to technological changes in the productive forces. Lenin theorised that under capitalism the workers cannot achieve class consciousness beyond organising into trade unions and making demands of the capitalists. Therefore, Leninists argue that it is historically necessary for a vanguard of class conscious revolutionaries to take a central role in coordinating
4225-427: A socialist regime is the only way available to modern nations who want to build rationally in freedom, independence and dignity. We are moving towards socialism because the people, through their vote, have freely rejected capitalism as a system which has resulted in a crudely unequal society, a society deformed by social injustice and degraded by the deterioration of the very foundations of human solidarity. Upon assuming
4394-572: A sophisticated operations room ( Opsroom ) would provide a space where managers could see relevant economic data, formulate feasible responses to emergencies, and transmit advice and directives to enterprises and factories in alarm situations by using the telex network. In conjunction with the system, the Cybersyn development team also planned the Cyberfolk device system, a closed television circuit connected to an interactive apparatus that would enable
4563-480: A specific historical phase that would displace capitalism and precede communism. The major characteristics of socialism (particularly as conceived by Marx and Engels after the Paris Commune of 1871) are that the proletariat would control the means of production through a workers' state erected by the workers in their interests. For orthodox Marxists , socialism is the lower stage of communism based on
4732-486: A stroke the benefits that the Generalised System of Preferences brings to developing countries". Allende's Popular Unity government tried to maintain normal relations with the United States. When Chile nationalized its copper industry , the United States government cut off support and increased its support to the opposition. Forced to seek alternative sources of trade and finance, Chile gained commitments from
4901-570: A success if a left-wing successor to Allende was going to be elected. In the first year of Allende's term, the short-term economic results of the economy minister Pedro Vuskovic 's expansive monetary policy were highly favorable: 12% industrial growth and an 8.6% increase in GDP, accompanied by major declines in inflation (down from 34.9% to 22.1%) and unemployment (down to 3.8%). By 1972, the Chilean escudo had an inflation rate of 140%. The average real GDP contracted between 1971 and 1973 at an annual rate of
5070-608: A system of clinics in working-class neighborhoods on the peripheries of the major cities, providing a health center for every 40,000 inhabitants. Statistics for construction in general, and housebuilding in particular, reached some of the highest levels in the history of Chile. Four million square metres were completed in 1971–72, compared to an annual average of 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 million between 1965 and 1970. Workers were able to acquire goods which had previously been beyond their reach, such as heaters, refrigerators, and television sets. As further noted by Ricardo Israel Zipper, "By now meat
5239-772: A total of $ 2.6 million to finance the presidential campaign of Eduardo Frei . The possibility of Allende winning Chile's 1970 election was deemed a disaster by the Nixon administration that wanted to protect American geopolitical interests by preventing the spread of Communism during the Cold War . In September 1970, then United States president Richard Nixon informed the CIA that an Allende government in Chile would not be acceptable and authorized $ 10 million to stop Allende from coming to power or unseat him. A CIA document declared, "It
Salvador Allende - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-419: A total of 550%. The incomes of 300,000 retirement pensioners were increased by the government from one-third of the minimum salary to the full amount. Labor insurance cover was extended to 200,000 market traders, 130,000 small shop proprietors, 30,000 small industrialists, small owners, transport workers, clergy, professional sportsmen, and artisans. The public health service was improved, with the establishment of
5577-412: A tremendous waste of material resources during crisis of overproduction . Excessive disparities in income distribution lead to social instability and require costly corrective measures in the form of redistributive taxation, which incurs heavy administrative costs while weakening the incentive to work, inviting dishonesty and increasing the likelihood of tax evasion while (the corrective measures) reduce
5746-437: Is a revolution of production", whereas "Allende's was a revolution of consumption." In October 1972, the first of what were to be a wave of strikes was led first by truckers, and later by small businessmen, some (mostly professional) unions and some student groups. Other than the inevitable damage to the economy, the chief effect of the 24-day strike was to induce Allende to bring the head of the army, general Carlos Prats , into
5915-533: Is alien to his work and only entered the lexicon of Marxism after his death". In Christian Europe , communists were believed to have adopted atheism . In Protestant England, communism was too close to the Roman Catholic communion rite , hence socialist was the preferred term. Engels wrote that in 1848, when The Communist Manifesto was published, socialism was respectable in Europe while communism
6084-488: Is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup." Henry Kissinger 's 40 Committee and the CIA planned to impede Allende's investiture as President of Chile with covert efforts known as "Track I" and "Track II"; Track I sought to prevent Allende from assuming power via so-called "parliamentary trickery", while under the Track II initiative, the CIA tried to convince key Chilean military officers to carry out
6253-449: Is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members". The original conception of socialism was an economic system whereby production was organised in a way to directly produce goods and services for their utility (or use-value in classical and Marxian economics ), with
6422-458: Is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilised in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee
6591-405: Is the accumulation of capital for reinvestment in production, but this spurs the development of new, non-productive industries that do not produce use-value and only exist to keep the accumulation process afloat (otherwise the system goes into crisis), such as the spread of the financial industry , contributing to the formation of economic bubbles. Such accumulation and reinvestment, when it demands
6760-418: Is the belief that socialists should stand in parliamentary elections within capitalist society and if elected use the machinery of government to pass political and social reforms for the purposes of ameliorating the instabilities and inequities of capitalism. Within socialism, reformism is used in two different ways. One has no intention of bringing about socialism or fundamental economic change to society and
6929-453: Is used to oppose such structural changes. The other is based on the assumption that while reforms are not socialist in themselves, they can help rally supporters to the cause of revolution by popularizing the cause of socialism to the working class. The debate on the ability for social democratic reformism to lead to a socialist transformation of society is over a century old. Reformism is criticized for being paradoxical as it seeks to overcome
Salvador Allende - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-546: The Frente de Acción Popular (Popular Action Front, FRAP), he obtained only 5.4% of the votes, partly due to a division within socialist ranks over support for Carlos Ibáñez . In 1958, again as the FRAP candidate, Allende obtained 28.5% of the vote. This time, his defeat was attributed to votes lost to the populist Antonio Zamorano. This explanation has been questioned by modern research that suggest Zamorano's votes came from across
7267-723: The All-Russian Communist Party , interpreting communism specifically to mean socialists who supported the politics and theories of Bolshevism , Leninism and later that of Marxism–Leninism , although communist parties continued to describe themselves as socialists dedicated to socialism. According to The Oxford Handbook of Karl Marx , "Marx used many terms to refer to a post-capitalist society —positive humanism , socialism, communism, realm of free individuality, free association of producers , etc. He used these terms completely interchangeably. The notion that 'socialism' and 'communism' are distinct historical stages
7436-534: The Chilean Senate in 1966. During the 1950s, Allende introduced legislation that established the Chilean national health service, the first program in the Americas to guarantee universal health care. His three unsuccessful bids for the presidency (in the 1952 , 1958 , and 1964 elections ) prompted Allende to joke that his epitaph would be "Here lies the next president of Chile." In 1952, as candidate for
7605-631: The Communist Party of Chile favored a gradual and cautious approach that sought cooperation with Christian democrats , which proved influential for the Italian Communist Party and the Historic Compromise . As president, Allende sought to nationalize major industries, expand education, and improve the living standards of the working class. He clashed with the right-wing parties that controlled Congress and with
7774-774: The Everton de Viña del Mar sports club (named after the more famous English football club of the same name ). In 1926, at the age of 18, he studied medicine at the University of Chile in Santiago and was elected President of the Student Center in 1927. In 1928, he entered the Grand Lodge of Chile and was elected vice president of the Federation of Students of the University of Chile in 1929. In 1930, he became
7943-811: The Front for Victory in Argentina, the PAIS Alliance in Ecuador, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in El Salvador, Peru Wins in Peru, and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela , whose leader Hugo Chávez initiated what he called " Socialism of the 21st century ". Many mainstream democratic socialist and social democratic parties continued to drift right-wards. On the right of
8112-606: The Hutterites are not usually called "utopian socialists", although their way of living is a prime example. They have been categorised as religious socialists by some. Similarly, modern intentional communities based on socialist ideas could also be categorised as "utopian socialist". For Marxists, the development of capitalism in Western Europe provided a material basis for the possibility of bringing about socialism because according to The Communist Manifesto "[w]hat
8281-479: The Industrial Revolution , including poverty, oppression, and vast wealth inequality . They viewed their society as harming community life by basing society on competition. They presented socialism as an alternative to liberal individualism based on the shared ownership of resources. Saint-Simon proposed economic planning , scientific administration and the application of scientific understanding to
8450-793: The Non-Aligned Movement , a position that was then almost unique in Latin America. Chile, which until then had been fussy about ideological boundaries, diversified its diplomatic and trade relations, regardless of the internal political regime of each country. The government established diplomatic relations with two Latin American countries (Cuba and Guyana ), seven African countries ( Congo , Equatorial Guinea , Libya , Madagascar , Nigeria , Tanzania , and Zaire ), three European countries (Albania, East Germany and Hungary) and seven Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, North Korea, China, Mongolia, South Vietnam and North Vietnam). It tried to promote Latin American integration. At
8619-540: The Peruvian Aprista Party went from ruling party in 2011 to a minor party. The decline of these mainstream parties opened space for more radical and populist left parties in some countries, such as Spain's Podemos , Greece's Syriza (in government, 2015–19), Germany's Die Linke , and France's La France Insoumise . In other countries, left-wing revivals have taken place within mainstream democratic socialist and centrist parties, as with Jeremy Corbyn in
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#17327655086518788-558: The Socialist Party of Chile . In 1933, Allende co-founded with Marmaduque Grove and others a section of the Socialist Party of Chile in Valparaíso and became its chairman. He married Hortensia Bussi with whom he had three daughters. He was a Freemason , a member of the Lodge Progreso No. 4 in Valparaíso. In 1933, he published his doctoral thesis Higiene Mental y Delincuencia (Crime and Mental Hygiene) in which he criticized Cesare Lombroso 's proposals. In 1938, Allende
8957-559: The Soviet Union to invest some $ 400 million in Chile in the next six years. The United States Departement of State put it at $ 115 million from Eastern Europe and $ 65 million from China, while Soviet and Chilean Popular Unity sources put it at total of $ 620 million from socialist countries. Much of the credit was never utilized, and the Soviets were not willing to subsidize Chile the same way they did for Cuba. Allende's government
9126-616: The Soviet model of economic development and the creation of centrally planned economies directed by a state that owns all the means of production , although other trends condemned what they saw as the lack of democracy. The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, saw socialism introduced. China experienced land redistribution and the Anti-Rightist Movement , followed by the disastrous Great Leap Forward . In
9295-570: The Stalinist era . Socialist realism was imposed under Stalin in artistic production and other creative industries such as music , film along with sports were subject to extreme levels of political control. The counter-cultural phenomenon which emerged in the 1960s shaped the intellectual and radical outlook of the New Left ; this movement placed a heavy emphasis on anti-racism , anti-imperialism and direct democracy in opposition to
9464-477: The Statute was only a tactical move. In his speech to the Chilean legislature following his election, Allende made clear his intention to move Chile from a capitalist to a socialist society: We are moving towards socialism, not from an academic love for a doctrinaire system, but encouraged by the strength of our people, who know that it is an inescapable demand if we are to overcome backwardness and who feel that
9633-574: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which he considered to be more representative since it allowed economic and trade issues to be negotiated on an equal legal footing. In a speech to UNCTAD, he also warned of the policy of the United States, Japan and the European Economic Community to progressively eliminate obstacles to free trade . He said that "freeing up trade ... erases at
9802-480: The Western Hemisphere from establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. Shortly afterward, Cuban president Fidel Castro made a month-long visit to Chile . Originally, the visit was supposed to be one week; however, Castro enjoyed Chile and one week led to another. Despite his attitude of socialist solidarity, Castro was reportedly critical of Allende's policies. Castro was quoted as saying that "Marxism
9971-494: The dominant culture of advanced industrial capitalism . Socialist groups have also been closely involved with a number of counter-cultural movements such as Vietnam Solidarity Campaign , Stop the War Coalition , Love Music Hate Racism , Anti-Nazi League and Unite Against Fascism . The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. ... I am convinced there
10140-575: The experimental viable system model and the neural network approach to organizational design, the Project consisted of four modules: a network of telex machines ( Cybernet ) in all state-run enterprises that would transmit and receive information with the government in Santiago . Information from the field would be fed into statistical modeling software ( Cyberstride ) that would monitor production indicators, such as raw material supplies or high rates of worker absenteeism, in "almost" real time, alerting
10309-596: The profit system. Market socialism retains the use of monetary prices, factor markets and sometimes the profit motive . As a political force, socialist parties and ideas exercise varying degrees of power and influence, heading national governments in several countries. Socialist politics have been internationalist and nationalist ; organised through political parties and opposed to party politics; at times overlapping with trade unions and other times independent and critical of them, and present in industrialised and developing nations. Social democracy originated within
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#173276550865110478-455: The 1930s . In Literature and Revolution , Trotsky examined aesthetic issues in relation to class and the Russian revolution. Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories. He would later co-author the 1938 Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art with
10647-535: The 1971 Latin American Economic and Social Council, the Chilean representative Gonzalo Martner García formulated four major proposals, summarized by the historian Jorge Magasich: "1) to ask the United States for a moratorium on external debt for a decade in order to allocate these sums to development policies; 2) to create a Latin American central bank to "invest Latin America's reserves, 70% of which are in
10816-589: The 1971–73 period. Additionally, Allende government had reduced inflation to 14% in the first nine months of 1971. Allende's first step in early 1971 was to raise minimum wages (in real terms) for blue-collar workers by 37–41% and by 8–10% for white-collar workers. Education, food, and housing assistance expanded significantly, with public housing starts going up twelvefold and eligibility for free milk extended from age 6 to age 15. A year later, blue-collar wages were raised by 27% in real terms and white-collar wages became fully indexed. Price controls were also set up, while
10985-490: The Allende Government introduced a system of distribution networks through various agencies (including local committees on supply and prices) to ensure that shopkeepers adhered to the new rules. The new Minister of Agriculture, Jacques Chonchol , promised to expropriate all estates which were larger than eighty "basic" hectares (about 200 acres). That promise was kept, with no farm in Chile exceeding that limit by
11154-525: The Bolshevik-led revolution in Russia, many socialists including reformists , orthodox Marxist currents such as council communism , anarchists and libertarian socialists criticised the idea of using the state to conduct central planning and own the means of production as a way to establish socialism. Following the victory of Leninism in Russia, the idea of "state socialism" spread rapidly throughout
11323-531: The Chilean Congress. Almost immediately after his election, Nixon directed CIA and US State Department officials to "put pressure" on the Allende government. His economic policies were used by economists Rudi Dornbusch and Sebastián Edwards to coin the term macroeconomic populism . In 1972, Chile's inflation stood at 150%. Salvador Allende took office in a difficult international context. Chile
11492-547: The Chilean Constitution and acting undemocratically. Allende's increasingly bold socialist policies (partly in response to pressure from some of the more radical members within his coalition), combined with his close contacts with Cuba, heightened fears in Washington. The Nixon administration continued exerting economic pressure on Chile via multilateral organizations and continued to back Allende's opponents in
11661-623: The Congress who sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler denouncing the persecution of Jews . Following President Aguirre Cerda's death in 1941, he was again elected deputy while the Popular Front was renamed Democratic Alliance . In 1945, Allende became senator for the Valdivia , Llanquihue , Chiloé , Aisén , and Magallanes provinces; then for Tarapacá and Antofagasta in 1953; for Aconcagua and Valparaíso in 1961; and once more for Chiloé, Aisén, and Magallanes in 1969. He became president of
11830-620: The German political philosopher Ferdinand Lassalle . In contrast to Karl Marx's perspective of the state, Lassalle rejected the concept of the state as a class-based power structure whose main function was to preserve existing class structures. Lassalle also rejected the Marxist view that the state was destined to "wither away". Lassalle considered the state to be an entity independent of class allegiances and an instrument of justice that would therefore be essential for achieving socialism. Preceding
11999-593: The Latin sociare , which means to combine or to share. The related, more technical term in Roman and then medieval law was societas . This latter word could mean companionship and fellowship as well as the more legalistic idea of a consensual contract between freemen". Initial use of socialism was claimed by Pierre Leroux , who alleged he first used the term in the Parisian journal Le Globe in 1832. Leroux
12168-578: The Liceo de Valdivia. In 1922, he entered the Eduardo de la Barra school at the age of 16, studying there until 1924. As a teenager, his main intellectual and political influence came from the shoe-maker Juan De Marchi , an Italian-born anarchist . In 1925, he attended the military service in the Cuirassier Regiment of Tacna . Allende was a talented athlete in his youth, being a member of
12337-510: The Soviet Union in late 1972 in search of more aid and additional lines of credit after three years, he was turned down. The United States opposition to Allende started several years before he was elected President of Chile. Declassified documents show that from 1962 to 1964, the CIA spent $ 3 million on anti-Allende propaganda "to scare voters away from Allende's FRAP coalition" and spent
12506-581: The UK, Herbert Morrison said that "socialism is what the Labour government does" whereas Aneurin Bevan argued socialism requires that the "main streams of economic activity are brought under public direction", with an economic plan and workers' democracy. Some argued that capitalism had been abolished. Socialist governments established the mixed economy with partial nationalisations and social welfare. By 1968,
12675-517: The United Kingdom and Bernie Sanders in the United States. Few of these radical left parties have won national government in Europe, while some more mainstream socialist parties have managed to, such as Portugal's Socialist Party . Bhaskar Sunkara , the founding editor of the American socialist magazine Jacobin , argued that the appeal of socialism persists due to the inequality and "tremendous suffering" under current global capitalism,
12844-503: The United States government, which had branded Allende as a dangerous communist, were aware of the military's plans to overthrow Allende's democratically elected government in the days before the coup d'état. As troops surrounded La Moneda Palace , Allende gave his last speech vowing not to resign. Later that day, Allende died by suicide in his office ; the exact circumstances of his death are still disputed. Following Allende's death, General Augusto Pinochet refused to return authority to
13013-418: The United States", to receive "the region's deposits and assets" and to coordinate the operations of the central banks in order to protect the region from financial turbulence; 3) Promote the creation of a global technology fund for development, fed by compulsory contributions of licenses, industrial processes and other funds for research, so as to limit the abuses associated with technological property; 4) Create
13182-496: The Women's Secretariat was established in 1971, which took on issues such as public laundry facilities, public food programs, day-care centers, and women's health care (especially prenatal care). The duration of maternity leave was extended from 6 to 12 weeks, while the Allende Government steered the educational system towards poorer Chileans by expanding enrollments through government subsidies. A "democratisation" of university education
13351-453: The accumulation of capital generates waste through externalities that require costly corrective regulatory measures. They also point out that this process generates wasteful industries and practices that exist only to generate sufficient demand for products such as high-pressure advertisement to be sold at a profit, thereby creating rather than satisfying economic demand. Socialists argue that capitalism consists of irrational activity, such as
13520-413: The army to replace René Schneider. Allende assumed the presidency on 3 November 1970 after signing a Statute of Constitutional Guarantees proposed by the Christian Democrats in return for their support in Congress. In an extensive interview with Régis Debray in 1972, Allende explained his reasons for agreeing to the guarantees. Some critics have interpreted Allende's responses as an admission that signing
13689-457: The basis of society. Literature and art will be tuned to a different key. —Trotsky, Literature and Revolution , 1924 In the Leninist conception, the role of the vanguard party was to politically educate the workers and peasants to dispel the societal false consciousness of institutional religion and nationalism that constitute the cultural status quo taught by the bourgeoisie to
13858-539: The bourgeoisie produces above all is its own grave diggers", namely the working class, which must become conscious of the historical objectives set it by society. Revolutionary socialists believe that a social revolution is necessary to effect structural changes to the socioeconomic structure of society. Among revolutionary socialists there are differences in strategy, theory and the definition of revolution . Orthodox Marxists and left communists take an impossibilist stance, believing that revolution should be spontaneous as
14027-460: The citizenry to actively participate in economic and political decision-making. Allende raised wages on a number of occasions throughout 1970 and 1971, but the wage hikes were negated by ongoing inflation of Chile's fiat currency . Although price rises had been high even under Frei (27% a year between 1967 and 1970), a basic basket of consumer goods rose by 120% from 190 to 421 escudos in one month alone, August 1972. From 1970 to 1972, while Allende
14196-476: The construction of health infrastructure". Small programs targeted at women were also experimented with, such as cooperative laundries and communal food preparation, together with an expansion of child-care facilities. The National Supplementary Food Program was extended to all primary school pupils and to all pregnant women, regardless of their employment or income condition. Complementary nutritional schemes were applied to malnourished children, while antenatal care
14365-502: The construction of the Santiago subway so as to serve working class neighborhoods first. Workers benefited from increases in social security payments, an expanded public works program, and a modification of the wage and salary adjustment mechanism that had originally been introduced in the 1940s to cope with the country's chronic inflation. Middle class Chileans benefited from the elimination of taxes on modest incomes and property. In addition, state-sponsored programs distributed free food to
14534-495: The context of a future socialist society would amount to a distortion of these concepts by using them out of context. Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon , Charles Fourier and Robert Owen which inspired Karl Marx and other early socialists. Visions of imaginary ideal societies, which competed with revolutionary social democratic movements, were viewed as not being grounded in
14703-506: The continent". The Christian Democrats had campaigned on a socialist platform in the 1970 elections but drifted away from those positions during Allende's presidency, and accused Allende of leading Chile toward a Cuban-style dictatorship and sought to overturn many of his more radical policies. They eventually formed a coalition with the National Party . Allende and his opponents in Congress repeatedly accused each other of undermining
14872-458: The country's neediest citizens, and in the countryside, peasant councils were established to mobilize agrarian workers and small proprietors. In the government's first budget presented to Congress in November 1970, the minimum taxable income level was raised, removing from the tax pool 35% of those who had paid taxes on earnings in the previous year. In addition, the exemption from general taxation
15041-506: The direct allocation of resources in terms of physical units as opposed to financial calculation and the economic laws of capitalism (see law of value ), often entailing the end of capitalistic economic categories such as rent , interest, profit and money. In a fully developed socialist economy, production and balancing factor inputs with outputs becomes a technical process to be undertaken by engineers. Market socialism refers to an array of different economic theories and systems that use
15210-627: The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Socialists have adopted the causes of other social movements such as environmentalism , feminism and progressivism . In 1990, the São Paulo Forum was launched by the Workers' Party (Brazil) , linking left-wing socialist parties in Latin America. Its members were associated with the Pink tide of left-wing governments on the continent in the early 21st century. Member parties ruling countries included
15379-619: The early 21st century. This phenomenon is known as Pasokification from the Greek party PASOK , which saw a declining share of the vote in national elections—from 43.9% in 2009 to 13.2% in May 2012, to 12.3% in June 2012 and 4.7% in 2015—due to its poor handling of the Greek government-debt crisis and implementation of harsh austerity measures. In Europe, the share of votes for such socialist parties
15548-406: The effort to keep Durán in the race, the propaganda campaign to denigrate Allende – were 'indispensable ingredients of Frei's success'", and they thought that his chances of winning and the good progress of his campaign would have been doubtful without the covert support of the government of the United States . Thus, in 1964 Allende lost once more as the FRAP candidate, polling 38.6% of
15717-428: The emergence of the Soviet Union as the world's first nominally socialist state led to socialism's widespread association with the Soviet economic model , academics have noted that some Western European countries have been governed by socialist parties or have mixed economies that are sometimes called " democratic socialist ". Following the revolutions of 1989 , many of these countries moved away from socialism as
15886-976: The end of 1972. Within eighteen months the Latifundia (extensive agricultural estates) had been abolished. The agrarian reform had involved the expropriation of 3,479 properties which, added to the 1,408 properties incorporated under the Frei government, made up some 40% of the total agricultural land area in the country. Particularly in rural areas, the Allende government launched a campaign against illiteracy, while adult education programs expanded, together with educational opportunities for workers. From 1971 to 1973, enrolments in kindergarten, primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools all increased. The Allende government encouraged more doctors to begin practising in rural and low-income urban areas, and built additional hospitals, maternity clinics, and especially neighborhood health-centers that remained open for longer hours to serve
16055-598: The endorsement of prominent artists Andre Breton and Diego Rivera . Trotsky's writings on literature such as his 1923 survey which advocated tolerance, limited censorship and respect for literary tradition had strong appeal to the New York Intellectuals . Prior to Stalin's rule, literary, religious and national representatives had some level of autonomy in Soviet Russia throughout the 1920s but these groups were later rigorously repressed during
16224-464: The existing economic system of capitalism while trying to improve the conditions of capitalism, thereby making it appear more tolerable to society. According to Rosa Luxemburg , capitalism is not overthrown, "but is on the contrary strengthened by the development of social reforms". In a similar vein, Stan Parker of the Socialist Party of Great Britain argues that reforms are a diversion of energy for socialists and are limited because they must adhere to
16393-405: The extension of freedom and equality in society. Many forms of socialist theory hold that human behaviour is largely shaped by the social environment. In particular, socialism holds that social mores , values, cultural traits and economic practices are social creations and not the result of an immutable natural law. The object of their critique is thus not human avarice or human consciousness, but
16562-463: The factories, higher pensions for widows, maternity care, and free lunch programs for schoolchildren. Upon entering the government, Allende relinquished his congressional seat for Valparaíso, which he had won in 1937. Around that time, he wrote La Realidad Médico Social de Chile ( The Social and Medical Reality of Chile ). After Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany , Allende was one of 76 members of
16731-424: The first quarter of 1971, while in the same period real minimum wages for white-collar workers were increased by 23%, a development that decreased the differential ratio between blue- and white-collar workers' minimum wage from 49% (1970) to 35% (1971). Central government expenditures went up by 36% in real terms, raising the share of fiscal spending in GDP from 21% (1970) to 27% (1971), and as part of this expansion,
16900-412: The first year of the Allende Government. In addition, while the average annual increase in personal spending had been 4.8% in the period 1965–70, it reached 11.9% in 1971. During the first two years of Allende's presidency, state expenditure on health rose from around 2% to nearly 3.5% of GDP. According to Jennifer E. Pribble , the new spending "was reflected not only in public health campaigns, but also in
17069-412: The government as Interior Minister. Allende also instructed the government to commandeer trucks to keep the nation from coming to a halt. Government supporters also helped to mobilize trucks and buses, but violence served as a deterrent to full mobilization, even with police protection for the strike-breakers. Allende's actions were eventually declared unlawful by the Chilean appeals court and the government
17238-408: The human spirit.", adding that "While it promised prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny." Some in the scientific community have suggested that a contemporary radical response to social and ecological problems could be seen in the emergence of movements associated with degrowth , eco-socialism and eco-anarchism . Early socialist thought took influences from
17407-439: The judiciary. On 11 September 1973, the military moved to oust Allende in a coup d'état supported by the CIA , which initially denied the allegations. In 2000, the CIA admitted its role in the 1970 kidnapping of General René Schneider who had refused to use the army to stop Allende's inauguration. Declassified documents released in 2023 showed that US president Richard Nixon , his national security advisor Henry Kissinger , and
17576-567: The last third of the 19th century parties dedicated to Democratic socialism arose in Europe, drawing mainly from Marxism . The Australian Labor Party was the first elected socialist party when it formed government in the Colony of Queensland for a week in 1899. In the first half of the 20th century, the Soviet Union and the communist parties of the Third International around the world, came to represent socialism in terms of
17745-487: The left-wing of the socialists (led by Carlos Altamirano ) and several other far-left parties called for violent insurrection. Some argue, however, that this was reversed at the end of his period in office. Allende won the 1970 Chilean presidential election as leader of the Unidad Popular ("Popular Unity") coalition. On 4 September 1970, he obtained a narrow plurality of 36.6% to 35.z3% over Jorge Alessandri ,
17914-407: The logic of capitalism. French social theorist André Gorz criticized reformism by advocating a third alternative to reformism and social revolution that he called " non-reformist reforms ", specifically focused on structural changes to capitalism as opposed to reforms to improve living conditions within capitalism or to prop it up through economic interventions. Under Socialism, solidarity will be
18083-403: The long run. Marxists argue that the establishment of a socialist mode of production is the only way to overcome these deficiencies. Socialists and specifically Marxian socialists argue that the inherent conflict of interests between the working class and capital prevent optimal use of available human resources and leads to contradictory interest groups (labour and business) striving to influence
18252-539: The main ideologies on the political spectrum , socialism is considered as the standard left-wing ideology in most countries. Types of socialism vary based on the role of markets and planning in resource allocation, and the structure of management in organizations. Socialist systems divide into non-market and market forms. A non-market socialist system seeks to eliminate the perceived inefficiencies, irrationalities, unpredictability , and crises that socialists traditionally associate with capital accumulation and
18421-785: The market mechanism to organise production and to allocate factor inputs among socially owned enterprises, with the economic surplus (profits) accruing to society in a social dividend as opposed to private capital owners. Variations of market socialism include libertarian proposals such as mutualism , based on classical economics, and neoclassical economic models such as the Lange model . Some economists, such as Joseph Stiglitz , Mancur Olson , and others not specifically advancing anti-socialists positions have shown that prevailing economic models upon which such democratic or market socialism models might be based have logical flaws or unworkable presuppositions. These criticisms have been incorporated into
18590-448: The masses for raising the standards of education , as well as entry into the cultural sphere, but that the process of artistic creation in terms of language and presentation should be the domain of the practitioner. According to political scientist Baruch Knei-Paz in his book The Social and Political Thought of Leon Trotsky , this represented one of several distinctions between Trotsky's approach on cultural matters and Stalin's policy in
18759-456: The material conditions and man-made social systems (i.e. the economic structure of society) which give rise to observed social problems and inefficiencies. Bertrand Russell , often considered to be the father of analytic philosophy, identified as a socialist. Russell opposed the class struggle aspects of Marxism, viewing socialism solely as an adjustment of economic relations to accommodate modern machine production to benefit all of humanity through
18928-488: The material conditions of society and as reactionary. Although it is technically possible for any set of ideas or any person living at any time in history to be a utopian socialist, the term is most often applied to those socialists who lived in the first quarter of the 19th century who were ascribed the label "utopian" by later socialists as a negative term to imply naivete and dismiss their ideas as fanciful or unrealistic. Religious sects whose members live communally such as
19097-412: The material productive forces (in industry and commerce) brought into existence by capitalism predicated a cooperative society since production had become a mass social, collective activity of the working class to create commodities but with private ownership (the relations of production or property relations). This conflict between collective effort in large factories and private ownership would bring about
19266-415: The means of production by capitalists and consequently, overthrowing the state that upheld this economic order. For Marx and Engels, conditions determine consciousness and ending the role of the capitalist class leads eventually to a classless society in which the state would wither away . Marx and Engels used the terms socialism and communism interchangeably, but many later Marxists defined socialism as
19435-411: The natural and social worlds could be understood through scientific knowledge and be analysed using scientific methods. The fundamental objective of socialism is to attain an advanced level of material production and therefore greater productivity, efficiency and rationality as compared to capitalism and all previous systems, under the view that an expansion of human productive capability is the basis for
19604-455: The new nationalized enterprises or on public-work projects. In November 1970, 3,000 scholarships were allocated to Mapuche children in an effort to integrate the indigenous minority into the educational system. Furthermore, Allende's administration resumed payment of pensions and grants, launched an emergency plan providing for the construction of 120,000 residential buildings, granted rights to social security for all part-time workers, withdrew
19773-418: The old social relations of production of capitalism that would generate contradictions, leading to working-class consciousness. Marx and Engels held the view that the consciousness of those who earn a wage or salary (the working class in the broadest Marxist sense) would be moulded by their conditions of wage slavery , leading to a tendency to seek their freedom or emancipation by overthrowing ownership of
19942-621: The organisation of society. By contrast, Robert Owen proposed to organise production and ownership via cooperatives . Socialism is also attributed in France to Marie Roch Louis Reybaud while in Britain it is attributed to Owen, who became one of the fathers of the cooperative movement . The definition and usage of socialism settled by the 1860s, with the term socialist replacing associationist , co-operative , mutualist and collectivist , which had been used as synonyms, while
20111-430: The overall efficiency of the market economy. These corrective policies limit the incentive system of the market by providing things such as minimum wages , unemployment insurance , taxing profits and reducing the reserve army of labour , resulting in reduced incentives for capitalists to invest in more production. In essence, social welfare policies cripple capitalism and its incentive system and are thus unsustainable in
20280-417: The political spectrum. Declassified documents show that from 1962 through 1964, the CIA spent a total of $ 2.6 million to finance the campaign of Eduardo Frei and $ 3 million in anti-Allende propaganda "to scare voters away from Allende's FRAP coalition". The CIA considered its role in the victory of Frei a great success. They argued that "the financial and organizational assistance given to Frei,
20449-412: The poor. Improved sanitation and housing facilities for low-income neighborhoods also equalized health-care benefits, while hospital councils and local health councils were established in neighborhood health-centers as a means of democratizing the administration of health policies. The councils gave central-government civil-servants, local-government officials, health-service employees, and community workers
20618-432: The presidency, Allende began to carry out his platform of implementing a socialist program called La vía chilena al socialismo ("the Chilean path to socialism"). That included nationalization of large-scale industries (notably copper mining and banking) and government administration of the healthcare system, educational system (with the help of a United States educator, Jane A. Hobson-Gonzalez from Kokomo, Indiana ),
20787-428: The principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution ", while upper stage communism is based on the principle of " from each according to his ability, to each according to his need ", the upper stage becoming possible only after the socialist stage further develops economic efficiency and the automation of production has led to a superabundance of goods and services. Marx argued that
20956-481: The productive forces and technology was the basis for the expansion of human freedom and that socialism, being a system that is consistent with modern developments in technology, would enable the flourishing of "free individualities" through the progressive reduction of necessary labour time. The reduction of necessary labour time to a minimum would grant individuals the opportunity to pursue the development of their true individuality and creativity. Socialists argue that
21125-442: The progressive reduction of necessary work time. Socialists view creativity as an essential aspect of human nature and define freedom as a state of being where individuals are able to express their creativity unhindered by constraints of both material scarcity and coercive social institutions. The socialist concept of individuality is intertwined with the concept of individual creative expression. Karl Marx believed that expansion of
21294-598: The proletariat to facilitate their economic exploitation of peasants and workers. Influenced by Lenin, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party stated that the development of the socialist workers' culture should not be "hamstrung from above" and opposed the Proletkult (1917–1925) organisational control of the national culture. Similarly, Trotsky viewed the party as transmitters of culture to
21463-493: The prolonged Vietnam War gave rise to the New Left , socialists who tended to be critical of the Soviet Union and social democracy . Anarcho-syndicalists and some elements of the New Left and others favoured decentralised collective ownership in the form of cooperatives or workers' councils . In 1989, the Soviet Union saw the end of communism , marked by the Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe , culminating in
21632-439: The public sector engaged in a huge housing program, starting to build 76,000 houses in 1971, compared to 24,000 for 1970. During a 1971 emergency program, over 89,000 houses were built, and during Allende's three years as president an average of 52,000 houses were constructed annually. Although the acceleration of inflation in 1972 and 1973 eroded part of the initial increase in wages, they still rose (on average) in real terms during
21801-420: The public. At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or—this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms—with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. Then begins an era of social revolution. The changes in the economic foundation lead sooner or later to the transformation of
21970-445: The purchase of a private publishing house by the state gave rise to Editorial Quimantu , which became the center of the Allende Government's cultural activities. In the space of two years, 12 million copies of books, magazines, and documents (8 million of which were books) specializing in social analysis, were published. Cheap editions of great literary works were produced on a weekly basis, and in most cases were sold out within
22139-447: The purchasing of commodities only to sell at a later time when their price appreciates, rather than for consumption, even if the commodity cannot be sold at a profit to individuals in need and therefore a crucial criticism often made by socialists is that "making money", or accumulation of capital, does not correspond to the satisfaction of demand (the production of use-values ). The fundamental criterion for economic activity in capitalism
22308-491: The representative of the students of the School of Medicine. During his time at medical school, Allende was influenced by Professor Max Westenhofer , a German pathologist who emphasized the social determinants of disease and social medicine . In 1931, he was expelled from the university and relegated to the north. That same year, he retook his sixth year of medical school and graduated at age 23. In 1932, he began practicing as
22477-431: The right to review budgetary decisions. The Allende government sought to bring the arts to the mass of the Chilean population by funding a number of cultural endeavours. With eighteen-year-olds and illiterates now granted the right to vote, mass participation in decision-making was encouraged by the Allende government, with traditional hierarchical structures now challenged by socialist egalitarianism. The Allende Government
22646-498: The role of the capitalist becomes redundant. With no need for capital accumulation and a class of owners, private property in the means of production is perceived as being an outdated form of economic organisation that should be replaced by a free association of individuals based on public or common ownership of these socialised assets. Private ownership imposes constraints on planning, leading to uncoordinated economic decisions that result in business fluctuations, unemployment and
22815-531: The same time, Chile granted asylum to thousands of political exiles from Latin American countries. Salvador Allende openly rejected the influence of the Organization of American States (OAS), a body close to the United States government, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which favored the interests of more developed countries. On the other hand, he was a fervent defender of
22984-456: The social revolution to overthrow the capitalist state and eventually the institution of the state altogether. Revolution is not necessarily defined by revolutionary socialists as violent insurrection, but as a complete dismantling and rapid transformation of all areas of class society led by the majority of the masses: the working class. Reformism is generally associated with social democracy and gradualist democratic socialism . Reformism
23153-749: The socialist movement and eventually state socialism came to be identified with the Soviet economic model . Joseph Schumpeter rejected the association of socialism and social ownership with state ownership over the means of production because the state as it exists in its current form is a product of capitalist society and cannot be transplanted to a different institutional framework. Schumpeter argued that there would be different institutions within socialism than those that exist within modern capitalism, just as feudalism had its own distinct and unique institutional forms. The state, along with concepts like property and taxation, were concepts exclusive to commercial society (capitalism) and attempting to place them within
23322-422: The socialist movement, supporting economic and social interventions to promote social justice . While retaining socialism as a long-term goal, in the post-war period social democracy embraced a mixed economy based on Keynesianism within a predominantly developed capitalist market economy and liberal democratic polity that expands state intervention to include income redistribution , regulation , and
23491-687: The socialist movement, the Progressive Alliance was founded in 2013 by current or former members of the Socialist International . The organisation states the aim of becoming the global network of "the progressive , democratic , social-democratic , socialist and labour movement ". Mainstream social democratic and socialist parties are also networked in Europe in the Party of European Socialists formed in 1992. Many of these parties lost large parts of their electoral base in
23660-402: The state to intervene in the economy in their favour at the expense of overall economic efficiency. Early socialists ( utopian socialists and Ricardian socialists ) criticised capitalism for concentrating power and wealth within a small segment of society. In addition, they complained that capitalism does not use available technology and resources to their maximum potential in the interests of
23829-407: The successful internationally backed 1989 constitutional referendum led to the peaceful Chilean transition to democracy . Allende was born on 26 June 1908 in Santiago . He was the son of Salvador Allende Castro and Laura Gossens Uribe. Allende's family belonged to the Chilean upper middle class and had a long tradition of political involvement in progressive and liberal causes. His grandfather
23998-439: The term communism fell out of use during this period. An early distinction between communism and socialism was that the latter aimed to only socialise production while the former aimed to socialise both production and consumption (in the form of free access to final goods). By 1888, Marxists employed socialism in place of communism as the latter had come to be considered an old-fashioned synonym for socialism . It
24167-447: The universities, which became accessible to peasants and workers. The illiteracy rate was reduced from 12% in 1970 to 10.8% in 1972, while the growth in primary school enrollment increased from an annual average of 3.4% in the period 1966–70 to 6.5% in 1971–1972. Secondary education grew at a rate of 18.2% in 1971–1972, and the average school enrollment of children between the ages of 6 and 14 rose from 91% (1966–70) to 99%. Social spending
24336-406: The use of wage labor "which rests on the exploitation and domination of humans by other humans," and ecological crises, such as climate change . In contrast, Mark J. Perry of the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) argued that despite socialism's resurgence, it is still "a flawed system based on completely faulty principles that aren't consistent with human behavior and can't nurture
24505-441: The votes against 55.6% for Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei . As it became clear that the election would be a race between Allende and Frei, the political right – which initially had backed Radical Julio Durán– settled for Frei as "the lesser evil". Allende was considered part of the moderate wing of the socialists, with support from the communists who favored taking power via parliamentary democracy; in contrast,
24674-491: The whole immense superstructure. —Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that socialism would emerge from historical necessity as capitalism rendered itself obsolete and unsustainable from increasing internal contradictions emerging from the development of the productive forces and technology. It was these advances in the productive forces combined with
24843-432: The workers in the first case and, in abnormal situations, if those parameters fell outside acceptable ranges by a very large degree, also the central government. The information would also be input into an economic simulation software ( CHECO , for CHilean ECOnomic simulator ) which featured a Bayesian filtering and control setting that the government could use to forecast the possible outcome of economic decisions. Finally,
25012-443: Was a defender of the "constitutionalist" doctrine that the army's role is exclusively professional, its mission being to protect the country's sovereignty and not to interfere in politics. General Schneider's death was widely disapproved of and, for the time, ended military opposition to Allende, whom the Congress finally chose on 24 October. On 26 October, President Eduardo Frei named General Carlos Prats as commander in chief of
25181-441: Was a follower of Henri de Saint-Simon , one of the founders of what would later be labelled utopian socialism . Socialism contrasted with the liberal doctrine of individualism that emphasized the moral worth of the individual while stressing that people act or should act as if they are in isolation from one another. The original utopian socialists condemned this doctrine of individualism for failing to address social concerns during
25350-540: Was a prominent physician and a social reformist who founded one of the first secular schools in Chile. Salvador Allende was of Basque and Belgian descent. In 1909, he moved with his family to the city of Tacna (then under Chilean administration ) until he returned to his country to live in Iquique in 1916. In 1918, he studied at the National Institute of Santiago, and from 1919 to 1921, he studied at
25519-438: Was able to draw upon the idealism of its supporters, with teams of "Allendistas" travelling into the countryside and shanty towns to perform volunteer work. The Allende government also worked to transform Chilean popular culture through formal changes to school curriculum and through broader cultural education initiatives, such as state-sponsored music festivals and tours of Chilean folklorists and nueva canción musicians. In 1971,
25688-492: Was accorded legal recognition, and its membership grew from 700,000 to almost 1 million. In enterprises in the Area of Social Ownership, an assembly of the workers elected half of the members of the management council for each company. Those bodies replaced the former board of directors. Minimum pensions were increased by amounts equal to two or three times the inflation rate, and between 1970 and 1972, such pensions increased by
25857-475: Was aligned with the United States in 1970. Elsewhere in Latin America, Brazil , Argentina and Bolivia were ruled by conservative military dictatorships (soon to be joined by Uruguay ). Colombia and Venezuela also had conservative, but democratically elected, governments. Only Cuba , Peru and Mexico viewed the Chilean socialist experiment with sympathy. Under Allende's presidency, Chile joined
26026-487: Was also somewhat exacerbated due to a US-backed campaign to fund worker strikes in certain sectors of the economy. The Allende government announced it would default on debts owed to international creditors and foreign governments. Allende also froze all prices while raising salaries. His implementation of the policies was strongly opposed by landowners, employers, businessmen and transporters associations, and some civil servants and professional unions. The rightist opposition
26195-668: Was at its 70-year lowest in 2015. For example, the Socialist Party , after winning the 2012 French presidential election , rapidly lost its vote share, the Social Democratic Party of Germany 's fortunes declined rapidly from 2005 to 2019, and outside Europe the Israeli Labor Party fell from being the dominant force in Israeli politics to 4.43% of the vote in the April 2019 Israeli legislative election , and
26364-471: Was carried out, making the system tuition-free, which led to an 89% rise in university enrollments between 1970 and 1973. The Allende Government also increased enrollment in secondary education from 38% in 1970 to 51% in 1974. Enrollment in education reached record levels, including 3.6 million young people, and 8 million school textbooks were distributed among 2.6 million pupils in primary education. An unprecedented 130,000 students were enrolled by
26533-415: Was concerned, there is nothing in principle in economic theory that precludes an economic order based on socialist policies" and promoted substituting capitalist businesses with worker cooperatives . While democrats looked to the Revolutions of 1848 as a democratic revolution which in the long run ensured liberty, equality, and fraternity , Marxists denounced it as a betrayal of working-class ideals by
26702-462: Was disappointed that it received far less economic assistance from the Soviets than it hoped for. Trade between the two countries did not significantly increase and the credits were mainly linked to the purchase of Soviet equipment. Moreover, credits from the Soviet Union were much less than those provided to the People's Republic of China and countries of the Eastern Bloc . When Allende visited
26871-660: Was dramatically increased, particularly for housing, education, and health, and a major effort was made to redistribute wealth to poorer Chileans. As a result of new initiatives in nutrition and health, together with higher wages, many poorer Chileans were able to feed and clothe themselves better than ever before. Public access to the social security system was increased, and state benefits such as family allowances were raised significantly. The redistribution of income enabled wage and salary earners to increase their share of national income from 51.6% (the annual average between 1965 and 1970) to 65% while family consumption increased by 12.9% in
27040-628: Was emphasized. Under Allende, the proportion of children under the age of 6 with some form of malnutrition fell by 17%. Apart from the existing Supply and Prices councils (community-based bodies which controlled the distribution of essential groups in working-class districts, and were a popular, not government, initiative), community-based distribution centers and shops were developed, which sold directly in working-class neighborhoods. The Allende government felt obliged to increase its intervention in marketing activities, and state involvement in grocery distribution reached 33%. The CUT (central labor confederation)
27209-620: Was given to government, employees, and employers; and signed a protocol agreement with the United Center of Workers, granting workers representational rights on the funding board of the Social Planning Ministry. Allende established an obligatory minimum wage for workers of all ages (including apprentices), free milk for expectant and nursing mothers and for children between the ages of 7 and 14, and free meals at school. His administration also reduced rent and rescheduled
27378-650: Was in charge of the electoral campaign of the Popular Front headed by Pedro Aguirre Cerda . The Popular Front's slogan was "Bread, a Roof and Work!" After its electoral victory, he became Minister of Health in the Reformist Popular Front government which was dominated by the Radicals . While serving in that position, Allende was responsible for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms, including safety laws protecting workers in
27547-438: Was in government, exports fell 24% and imports rose 26%, with imports of food rising an estimated 149%. Export income fell due to a hard-hit copper industry; the price of copper on international markets fell by almost a third, and post-nationalization copper production fell as well. Copper is Chile's single most important export, as more than half of Chile's export receipts were from that sole commodity. The price of copper fell from
27716-618: Was led by the National Party , the Catholic Church (which in 1973 was displeased with the direction of educational policy), and eventually the Christian Democrats . There were growing tensions with foreign multinational corporations and the government of the United States. Allende undertook the pioneeristic Project Cybersyn , a distributed decision support system for decentralized economic planning , developed by British cybernetics expert Stafford Beer . Based on
27885-531: Was no longer a luxury, and the children of working people were adequately supplied with shoes and clothing. The popular living standards were improved in terms of the employment situation, social services, consumption levels, and income distribution." Chilean presidents were allowed a maximum term of six years, which may explain Allende's haste to restructure the economy. Not only was a major restructuring program organized (the Vuskovic plan ), he also had to make it
28054-667: Was not until after the Bolshevik Revolution that socialism was appropriated by Vladimir Lenin to mean a stage between capitalism and communism. He used it to defend the Bolshevik program from Marxist criticism that Russia's productive forces were not sufficiently developed for communism. The distinction between communism and socialism became salient in 1918 after the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party renamed itself to
28223-729: Was not. The Owenites in England and the Fourierists in France were considered respectable socialists while working-class movements that "proclaimed the necessity of total social change" denoted themselves communists . This branch of socialism produced the communist work of Étienne Cabet in France and Wilhelm Weitling in Germany. British moral philosopher John Stuart Mill discussed a form of economic socialism within free market. In later editions of his Principles of Political Economy (1848), Mill posited that "as far as economic theory
28392-536: Was ordered to return trucks to their owners. Throughout his presidency, racial tensions between the poor descendants of indigenous people, who supported Allende's reforms, and the white elite increased. Throughout his presidency, Allende remained at odds with the Chilean Congress, which was dominated by the Christian Democratic Party. In 1964, Eduardo Frei had promised a "Revolution in Liberty",
28561-529: Was raised to a level equivalent to twice the minimum wage. Exemptions from capital taxes were also extended, which benefitted 330,000 small proprietors. The extra increases that Frei had promised to the armed forces were also fully paid. According to one estimate, purchasing power went up by 28% between October 1970 and July 1971. The rate of inflation fell from 36.1% in 1970 to 22.1% in 1971, while average real wages rose by 22.3% during 1971. Minimum real wages for blue-collar workers were increased by 56% during
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