“[I]t is very clear that in fundamental theory, socialism and democracy are almost, if not quite, one and the same. They both rest at bottom upon the absolute right of the community to determine its own destiny and that of its members. Men as communities are supreme over men as individuals.” …OK. How were they different compared to the extremists that permeate the party now? They look exactly the same to me. Including people like Dean Acheson, author of A Democrat Looks at His Party who was cited in The Conscience of a Conservative as being one of Goldwater’s contemporaries in terms of being a champion of totalitarianism.
— Woodrow Wilson, Socialism and Democracy, 1887
Some people may not be capable of discerning differences.