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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (133571)	3/18/2010 11:43:33 AM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 540963

The conclusion I drew is that the people who use it just don't care whether it's valid or not. That is 110% correct. Most Americans don't get a decent education in political science and comparative politics anyway, so we shouldn't be surprised.

To: Lane3 who wrote (133571)	3/18/2010 11:49:51 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 540963

Lane- socialist is such a broad term now- encompassing (correctly) both government control of distribution, and government redistribution and control of parts of an economy- most people are using it correctly. It's hard to use "socialist" incorrectly, really- unless you are under the illusion it doesn't already apply to large swathes of the American economy (swathes no republicans would dare to touch- like social security and medicare.) Except for the folks who reject all large government aid programs which redistribute wealth (mostly redistributing from the young to the aged), we really are all socialists now. The only people who aren't are the people who truly opt out of the system. As wiki suggests, the definition of "socialism" is complex, and varies - many meanings are potentially correct. Obviously some people will have their favorite meanings, but those prejudices do not make other people's uses of the term incorrect: "Socialism is not a concrete philosophy of fixed doctrine and programme; its branches advocate a degree of social interventionism and economic rationalisation (usually in the form of economic planning), but sometimes oppose each other. A dividing feature of the socialist movement is the split between reformists and revolutionaries on how a socialist economy should be established. Some socialists advocate complete nationalisation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy."