"Socialism" usually refers to scientific socialism, which is a theory about the conditions of proletarian liberation, that is, a science about eliminating the general law of capitalism for all classes. Socialism has experienced a development process from fantasy to science. Scientific socialism is not socialism in the general sense, but * * * productism. Socialism will establish social public ownership, eliminate all authoritarian political forms and establish a complete and thorough democratic system; The country will lose its violent nature and become a simple management organ and service organization. Socialism requires that people's thoughts be completely liberated from capital, religion and country, and that they should accept the outstanding achievements of ideas and science and technology to the maximum extent, so that people's personality can be improved and their intelligence can be developed day by day. Socialism will be born with the demise of capitalism.

There are usually three views on the earliest usage of the word "socialism". The first opinion is that Anselm Desing, a German theologian and a Catholic Benedictine priest, called people who follow the laws of nature socialists when arguing with people in 1753. The second view holds that the word "socialism" was first used by Italian missionaries, indicating a legendary system arranged by God. Later, it was linked with the proletarian liberation movement and gained political significance; The third and most common view is that the word "socialism" first appeared in the Erwinian journals Cooperation and Saint-Simon Global Journal in the 1920s and 1930s. Utopian socialists use this word to express their collective ideals that they are dissatisfied with the individualism prevailing in capitalist society and expect to realize.

At first, the word meant reforming the social system to improve the welfare of working people, ensure social peace and allow property inequality. At that time, the term "productism" generally refers to the establishment of social equality through public ownership of means of production (sometimes including means of subsistence) and advocates the abolition of property inequality. Therefore, proletarian revolutionary instructors sometimes call utopian socialism and utopian capitalism before scientific socialism "socialism" and sometimes distinguish them. After the proletariat began its independent political struggle, the bourgeoisie often used "socialism" to oppose class struggle and proletarian revolution. Engels once pointed out: "In 1847, socialism is a bourgeois movement, while * * * productism is a working class movement."

In June1842+1October 15, Marx wrote a general report on * * * productism and augsburg, and Engels wrote Progress of Social Reform Movement in the Mainland in June 1843, which used the word "socialism" for the first time and gave it a scientific meaning. However, at that time, Marx and Engels regarded socialism as a synonym for * * * productism.

Since then, "socialism", as the name of ideological trend, usually refers to scientific socialism, which is a theory about the conditions of proletarian liberation, that is, a science about eliminating all classes and realizing the general law of * * * productism.

However, "socialism" still has various meanings and usages. In the Manifesto of the Productive Party, Marx and Engels classified the socialist ideological trend popular in Europe in the middle of19th century except scientific socialism as reactionary socialism (including feudal socialism, petty-bourgeois socialism and "real" socialism, bourgeois socialism and critical utopian socialism).