Incan Socialism

The early Incan Empire of South America worked under an economic system that might be classified by today's means as socialist.

The ancient socialist system

In the Incan Empire, the government extracted tribute from conquered peoples and taxes from their own. But these taxes to the government were in the form of labor. The mandatory public service to the government was called Mita. The government claimed all resources and redistributed them equally. Each community collectively contributed to the whole state. [Stearns, P: "World Civilizations, The Global Experience, Fourth Edition, AP Edition", pages 254-255. Pearson Education, 2005.]

Reasons for this system

The Incan Empire was in the mountainous Peruvian and Chilean coast. The geography and ecosystems of the extensive empire were varied and areas produced different products that all of the empire needed. The Incan government solved this problem with the redistribution of goods throughout the whole empire. Each community produced what the terrain allowed it to and then the excess was taken by the government and given to the other villages and whatever the community did not produce it received it from the government. [http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_culture.htm]

Notes

* mythicjourneys.org. " [http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_culture.htm The Inca Culture] ", "mythicjourneys.org". Retrieved on January_24, 2007.