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The ABCs of Socialism

By
Editors

We’re making a booklet explaining the basics of socialist thought to a wide audience. But not without your help.

Whatever you think of his campaign, there’s no doubt that the energy around Bernie Sanders is fueling broader public interest in socialism.

Every day, the Jacobin inbox is flooded with a dozen emails asking basic definitional questions about socialism. And our contributors will tell you that they’ve had more conversations about socialism with their friends and family in the past six months than in the last six years.

We hardly have all the answers, but we want to reach as many of these people as possible.

To do this, we’re working tirelessly over the next couple weeks to put together a special booklet on The ABCs of Socialism. In it, a host of Jacobin editors and contributors will tackle some of the most common queries, including:

  • Is socialism just public ownership? If not, what is it?
  • Does capitalism promote freedom? Don’t capitalism and democracy go hand-in-hand?
  • Will socialists take away my iPhone?
  • Why do socialists talk so much about the working class?
  • What do socialists have to say about the struggle against racism?
  • Is socialism a Western concept? Is it against human nature?
  • How does the socialist vision relate to feminist struggles?
  • Isn’t redistribution theft? Wouldn’t all this destroy the environment?

Whatever you can contribute will help offset the costs of printing 10,000 beautiful, full-color booklets and distributing them into the hands of anyone curious about the socialist vision and how it relates to their desire for a better world. All gifts will be fulfilled in March, our expected release date for the booklet.

If you want a reward, please be sure to use the links below or donate any amount in between them and email us with your shipping details.

  1. Donations of $10 through this link will get a digital edition of The ABCs of Socialism.
  2. Donations of $25 will get a print copy to hold and admire, as well.
  3. Donations of $100 will get a stack of ten booklets to give to strangers, plus a yearlong Jacobin subscription.
  4. Donations of $500 will get you everything else and thanked on the booklet’s masthead as a sponsor.

We need your help to make this project a reality, please give now.