Misusing the term “socialism”

We hear a lot about the term “socialism” these days. In the United States we have a fundamental misunderstand of what socialism is, and what it means. I thought I would write a few words to help clear up some misconceptions about this concept.

Socialism, properly defined, refers to the concept of collective ownership. This means that property is not owned by individuals, but rather communally. There are several different types of socialism. The primary form of socialism is state socialism, where government oversees collective ownership of property. This was primarily seen in places like the Soviet Union, but also to some degree in more democratic regimes. (The United Kingdom, for example, was a largely socialist economy, with government overseeing ownership of industry and coal mines, before Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party did away with this in the early 80s.)

Also, and many people may not realize this, but anarchism is a form of socialism. Anarchism calls for collective ownership without the presence of the state. If people cooperative decide to share property and not infringe on the rights of others, then that is, by definition, socialism.

“Wait a minute, how can you have socialism without government?” Well I’m glad you asked that question. I want you to pay attention very closely. Ready? Okay….

SOCIALISM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNMENT!

Many right wingers try to distort what socialism is, to the point that every time a poor kid gets a discounted school lunch they decry “ZOMG that’s socialism!!!!11!1” This is wrong. Government programs, progressive taxation, labor and environmental regulations, and other things associated with being a well off industrial democracy that, at least to some degree, gives a damn about its citizens, are not, by definition, socialistic.

I’m not a socialist personally. I find the notion of socialism to morally appealing but highly impractical. However, I also don’t consider the term “socialism” to be an insult, which puts me out of step with what currently constitutes political correctness in the United States. I just wish we would use the term accurately! You can agree or disagree with how Obama is handling the financial crisis. I have my disagreements with him about several things. But he is attempting to save capitalism with government intervention (like the New Deal did) – he is NOT instituting socialism!

I wanted to hopefully clear up a little confusion on this point. The word “socialism” is thrown around haphazardly not only by ideologues with radical right wing agendas, but less nefariously by a national news media that is too self absorbed and lazy to pick up a fucking dictionary.