Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true.

The aphorism is a sardonic, symmetrical joke: it claims that capitalism involves exploitation (“man exploits man”), and then undercuts any hope that socialism eliminates exploitation by saying “the reverse is true”—i.e., exploitation persists, only the roles or rhetoric change. Its punch depends on the mock-logical inversion, implying that systems may differ in ideology but still produce similar human outcomes: hierarchy, coercion, and self-interest. Often used as political satire, it functions less as a factual claim about any particular country than as a cynical comment on the tendency of grand economic programs to disappoint, and on how power can reproduce itself under different banners.

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.
Under capitalism, man exploits man; under communism, man exploits man.
Under capitalism, man exploits man; under socialism, it’s the other way around.