For most of the world's population, a perfect society just isn't possible. Communism is one proposed solution to these problems. Most people know what communism is at its most basic level. Simply put, communism is the idea that everyone in a given society receives equal shares of the benefits derived from labor. Communism is designed to allow the poor to rise up and attain financial and social status equal to that of the middle-class landowners. While this idea sounds great, communism has affected the world quite negatively. Socialism and communism are alike in that both are systems of production for use based on public ownership of the means of production and centralized planning. Socialism grows directly out of capitalism, it is the first form of the new society. Communism is a further development or "higher stage" of socialism.