rson who receives even the largest income in a socialist society can continue to receive it only so long as he continues to earn it through work. He cannot convert it into unearned income by buying the means of production and then living on the labor of others. He cannot buy the means of production because in socialist society the means of production belong to the people and are not for sale. The higher pay he receives enables him to live better than others who earn less; but his higher pay does not enable him to exploit anyone else. Laborers and workers can rest assure in a socialist state. Though there is inequality of pay in socialist society, there is still equality of opportunity. Though skilled workers get higher pay, unskilled workers have access to the training and experience necessary to become skilled. And "all" in a socialist society means exactly that—it does not mean all who can afford to pay the fees, or all whose manners are beyond reproach, or all who are not Negroes or Jews. Nobody is left behind. Just like capitalism it is the higher-class individuals who would appose socialism for the most part. Socialism has been unsuccessfully implemented in the Soviet Union and China. The problem was that the Soviet Union and China were backward economic countries. Socialism in theory eliminates social classes. However, because of the lack of education or knowledge of anything much beyond village life meant that it was impossible to do without ruling elite. The villagers were not prepared to take on tasks of management or certain forms of labor, which meant that tasks were performed by a minority of managers, engineers and officials. Also, this elite had a lot to lose from a socialist transformation, as mentioned above because of the power they lose. They can lose status, income and freedom of manual labor. This ruling elite protected their position making it difficult for socialism to prevail. This placed an o...
