They’re both economic terms. Socialism gives society control over the means of production. Communism gives the government control. The reason people think they’re the same is because, in a democratic political system, the government represents their society.
China is an example of an authoritarian state where the government acts independently of the will of society, has complete control over the means of production, and enforces that control, so it’s considered communist.
Scandinavian countries are examples of democratic states where the people have control over the means of production, the government is simply a mechanism that enforces that control, so they’re considered socialist.
The USA is an example of a capitalist state where businesses control the means of production, the government is simply a mechanism that enforces that control, so they’re considered capitalist.
OilyArena@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
How in the world do you come to the conclusion that Scandinavian workers own the means of production? Nothing even remotely close to that is the case, they just have a relatively well-funded welfare state, that has nothing to do with Socialism.