[ExI] Socialism

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 20/10/2026 02:03, spike wrote:
> But the majority of the US population uses AI and TwitterX.  The
> very poorest people I can find in the USA oppose [a poorly-defined word that means almost nothing].


What do they oppose, exactly?
Is it the abolition of capitalism, the moderation of capitalism, the expansion of the welfare state to make health care more affordable and more widely available, a bigger voice for workers and citizens in how things are run, the removal of power from the citizens and concentration of power in the state, progressive taxation (taxing the rich more than the poor), violent revolution with the aim of placing the means of production into the hands of the people, a non-violent transition from the current status quo to a more balanced system, ...

When you use the word 'socialism' on its own, you are saying almost nothing, because it has so many different interpretations, many of them contradictory. It's no good thinking "I know what it means", because you can be certain that there are other people who think the same, with totally different things in mind.

'Socialism', without qualification, is a politician's word, seeming to mean something but vague enough that it really means nothing. Or more exactly, it means whatever the listener wants it to mean.
-- 
Ben
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." - Pablo Casals, via Albert Einstein