re: #179 Justanotherhuman

Socialism can’t be pinned down by simply saying that the state owns the socialized means of production. There are varying degrees of socialism, social democrats, communists, etc, which cannot all be lumped together as the same “socialism”. Some forms of socialism have production outside the state’s authority (even if heavily regulated) and profits go to individuals; others can be operated on a cooperative basis, with profits shared, or the State manages production and collects profits. A mix of economic, social and governmental functions in a state can determine for itself whether or not it considers itself “socialist”, most, though, have a very defined safety net that assists those who cannot work—children, the aged, the disabled.

This is the problem. The word, which originally meant something, now has essentially no meaning. Well, SOME meaning - “not just letting rich people fuck over everyone else.”