Summary Of Socialism By Richard Cohen

Cohen claims in the first part of “Socialism” that some inequalities have to be forbidden according to the socialist principle of equal opportunity. He goes beyond this, however, on page 37 when he states that even if an inequality does not have to be forbidden on the grounds that it is contrary to that socialist principle of equal opportunity, it still might need to be forbidden because of concern for the community. His argument is that since community is vital to socialism, anything that threatens the community must be forbidden. Inequality, he says, threatens the community by separating people from the “common life” of the community. I agree with Cohen that if something threatens the community and if community is a necessary facet of socialism,