• davel@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    People don’t know their asses from their elbows. Liberalism has a definition, which Marxists (and still some liberal Europeans) have never forgotten, though thanks to red scare purges and two cold wars, others have forgotten. Now, in Orwellian fashion, “liberalism” and “socialism” are floating signifiers, so we have liberals like Sanders calling themselves socialists, despite never calling for abolishing private ownership of the means of production.

    Wikipedia: socialism: Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership.

    Wikipedia: liberalism: Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property and equality before the law.

    “Private property,” a.k.a. “the means of production.”

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      2 months ago

      Socialism, democratic socialism, and socialist democrats are related ideas, complex themselves, but not the same thing as usually used in political discussions where labels are thrown around. Same with liberals, leftists, and generally the left. Everyone uses these simplified words in their soundbites, assuming the other people hearing them agree with the meanings used, and usually they are completely different. No wonder we can’t agree on anything.