Will the liberals who accuse me of not knowing what socialism is please furnish a definition of it?

[Peter]

That's what MSNBC told them to say.

Socialism, according to Webster's.

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

[Wally]

so⋅cial⋅ism  /ˈsoʊʃəˌlɪzəm/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [soh-shuh-liz-uhm] Show IPA
–noun 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

From Dictionary.com

And Some Think The Redistribution Of Wealth In This Country Isn't Socialism (They Haven't Read The Definition And Don't Have A Clue)

[Alex S]

Here..
yes!..they are tricky~!
but..
Communism ***advocates the "collective ownership of property and the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members."

While communism is first economic system, it's also a political ideology that rejects religion. And just as communism is a form of socialism, Marxism, Maoism, and Leninism are branches of communism.

Like socialism and communism, fascism uses a central authority to maintain control, but "terror and censorship" are common. It results from economic failure in democratic political systems. Interestingly, while socialism and communism are both on the left end of the political spectrum, fascism contains elements of both "left and right ideology" and rises from economic collapse. The most famous fascist was Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. That ought to tell you it's not a good way to run a country.
Yeah..have some pasta~!
lol

[BOBO]

Hey baby cakes! Why would they? Those idiots that accuse you of not knowing what socialism is...don't know the answer themselves!!!

[drumsolo44]

my GOD!!

your avatar!!!

Spy magazine, Hillary photoshopped onto the body of a dominatrix.

YOWZUH!!!

i LOVED that issue!!!

[Steve K]

Socialism is the transition stage of Capitalism moving to Communism. So long as the ruling class is still allowed to maintain their businesses the middle class can remain employed and the subclass can still be fed. Once the ruling class get tired of producing for no financial rewards or at a reduced rate of return they cease to work to produce and they too start to live off the state. At this time the system breaks down having no intelligent ruling class leaders in charge of production. Incompetents are now in charge and production breaks down and quality approaches unacceptability. Without production the subclass starts to run out of necessities and become a security problem. The security forces then have to be built up to protect the sinking middle class. Usually by this time chaos develops and all is lost. Socialism is always short lived. Read History!

[Michael]

socialism is funded on the believe that the wealth must be redistributed. basically that works kind of like robin hood take from the rich and give to the poor. second in socialism their is limited free market also government runs big business while small businesses are still run by citizens. in other words higher taxes less things to buy and a larger public sector. although socialism is built on good fundamentals; helping the poor it simply doesn't work because debt overloads the system and an economic apocalypse happens.

[andrew w]

My definition of Socialism comes from the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. I think it is safe to say that they knew a bit more about it than the writer of the definition in Merriam-Webster.

so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1837
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

------------------

I completely disagree with this definition.

Socialism and communism are the same thing.

Socialism takes the control of running society out of the hands of bosses and places it in the hands of ordinary people.

The Bolsheviks used the slogan "all power to the soviets". The Russian word "soviet" simply means "council" - i.e. they wanted councils of workers and peasants to be in control of the running of their industry and agriculture.

Marx and Lenin said that under socialism the state would "wither away". In the beginning, it would be necessary to have a state structure, but as socialism took over from capitalism, there would be less and less need to keep crime in check, for example, as there would be less poverty. Eventually, under advanced socialism, there would be an egalitarian, anarchic society where everything was naturally shared.

This happened in Catalonia, all too briefly, during the Spanish Civil War. In Barcelona, money was briefly abolished and everyone was paid instead using vouchers based on how many hours they had worked, i.e. everyone got the same. Unsurprisingly, this was very popular with the poor! (source 1)

However, because that heroic movement was built on anarchism and not socialism, it failed to get rid of the bosses' system completely and Franco was allowed to regain control. The result was a bloody fascist dictatorship for 40 years.

In Russia, sadly, the gains of the revolution were destroyed by the monstrous regime of Stalinism. This is what many people think of as socialism.

Read George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", Lenin's "The State and Revolution" or Trotsky's monumental 3 volume "History of the Russian Revolution".

[Tim D]

That is always how the liberals respond if you mention socialism. The sad thing is, most of them don't understand what is happening right before their eyes. Many liberals think socialism is a fire department and an army.
What we have right now is the road to socialism...it is called Statism. (Below is a link for the liberals)

Regardless of what you call it: Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Statism...etc. It all leads to the same place TYRANNY.


STATISM-http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Statism