Main Entry: so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: ‘sO-sh&-”li-z&m
Function: noun
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
As the definition, it is defecative: any collectivist social system, even if it leaves the private property more or less alone and neither owns nor administers the means of production [it could co-opt the private owners- that’s the loophole] is still socialist - see the national socialists, or 2007 oligarchic russia. I would build the definition NOT on economics but on sociology: absolute primacy of the interests of the group [especially of the preferred, favored group] over those of an individual, with that individual’s subjugation. The group could, and does, become abstract and fictitious, serving as a front for the ruling elite. Hence mass coercion and the development of the nomenclaturists’ “master race”, for whom and by whom the system is run. Now, even non-socialist systems have quite a few elements of this: US nomenclaturist Sandy Berger’s adventures come to mind. Still, one could speak of the degree to which the body politic is infected, and introduce an arbitrary threshold value.
Thank you!!
Where does supporting government funding for abortion for poor women fall on the old collectivist scale?