By explaining what socialism means in its historical context, I aim to give listeners a better understanding of what the alternatives to capitalism are. Which is important for further discussions of the surveillance economy.

Today’s episode of The Private Citizen is a bit different. For this episode, I will try to define the term socialism in its historical context. I feel it is needed to understand what the term means to understand, by exclusion, what capitalism is. Because without understanding socialism, we can’t understand what surveillance capitalism is.

So please bear with me for a bit of a history session:

What Does the Term “Socialism” Actually Mean?

I went old school when preparing today’s episode, which is why you only get pictures of my handwritten show notes this time around (you can right click on the image to open it full size in its own tab if you want).

Show Notes, Pages 1 and 2

Show Notes, Page 3

There is no feedback from producers in this episode because it was recorded immediately after the previous episode. However, your thoughts on the topics discussed are very much appreciated, so please feel free to contact me.

Toss a Coin to Your Podcaster

I am a freelance journalist and writer, volunteering my free time because I love digging into stories and because I love podcasting. If you want to help keep The Private Citizen on the air, consider becoming one of my Patreon supporters.

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Thanks and Credits

I like to credit everyone who’s helped with any aspect of this production and thus became a part of the show.

Aside from the people who have provided feedback and research and are credited as such above, I’m thankful to Raúl Cabezalí, who composed and recorded the show’s theme, a song called Acoustic Routes. I am also thankful to Bytemark, who are providing the hosting for this episode’s audio file.

But above all, I’d like to thank the following people, who have supported this episode through Patreon or PayPal and thus keep this show on the air: Niall Donegan, Michael Mullan-Jensen, Jonathan M. Hethey, Georges Walther, Dave, Butterbeans, Mark Holland, Steve Hoos, Shelby Cruver, Kai Siers, Vlad, Jackie Plage, 1i11g, Fadi Mansour, Philip Klostermann, ikn, Jaroslav Lichtblau, Matt Jelliman, Joe Poser, Dirk Dede, David Potter, Dave Umrysh, Mika, Vytautas Sadauskas, RikyM, drivezero, Martin, Jonathan Edwards, Barry Williams, Silviu Vulcan and S.J.