The meaning of words isn't constant. Looking at words' meaning a few years ago and comparing them with today's usage demonstrates how many have changed. The word "sex" for example. At one time it meant whether a person was male or female. No longer. Now the word most commonly used is "gender."
"Socialism" is another. In the old days it meant government ownership or control of the means of production. Now it means something a little bit more kindly to a large segment of our population. Gallop presents some poll results at The Meaning of "Socialism" to Americans Today comparing 1949 with 2018.
These are the top three. Note how much change has occurred over the decades. And that's with all the access to news about Venezuela and other countries that have tried socialism and transformed into sh*t hole countries.
2018 | 1949 | |
---|---|---|
Sep 4-12 | Sep 3-8 | |
% | % | |
Equality - equal standing for everybody, all equal in rights, equal in distribution | 23 | 12 |
Government ownership or control, government ownership of utilities, everything controlled by the government, state control of business | 17 | 34 |
Benefits and services - social services free, medicine for all | 10 | 2 |
I suppose it's a good thing that government control or ownership of business has dropped. Maybe more capitalism will eventually creep into the predominate understanding of socialism.
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2:23 PM 11/10/2018
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