We as a culture really have to stop using words like 'socialist,' 'communist,' 'fascist,' etc. so cavalierly. Because of overuse and misuse, the meanings of these concepts are being diluted.
I often see John Kerry referred to as a 'socialist' or a 'communist' on these boards, but does anyone seriously think that a Kerry administration would have spent more than this one has.
Sullivan is right. If you want to categorise Kerry as a socialist, then Bush sure looks like one too.
What are you, some kind of word fascist?
In my opinion, the words "socialist" and "communist" are generally used in a manner fairly consistent with their true meanings, since they are usually directed at Democrats, the policies of whom are usually actually based on socialist concepts or at least concepts derived from socialism. President Bush may not be a true socialist, but his thinking does come from the same mindset that socialists have in that he believes government should play a significant role in the ordering and arranging of society.
I agree with you on the word "fascist" though, not many of us use that according to its true meaning.
Agreed. It's particularly painful when our side engages in verbal nonsense. Given that the Cold War has been over for 15 years, "socialist" and "communist" are losing their cultural framework, especially for the younger crowd. "Fiscal irresponsibility" is ideology-neutral, plus accurate. Unfortunately, we can't successfully pin this one on the dems (even though they are happily pulling in pork for their districts), when the repubs control both houses of congress and the WH.
True. "Capitalist" also, and others.
I do think that the Bush administration is of the ilk to which I refer as "faux socialist." That is to say that they implement and support many policies and agendas that are essentially socialist, but only because it serves their petty interests.
Right now, W and crew are global Marxists, redistributing wealth from the American poor to the Mexican middle class. But they only do that because it is financially profitable to them in the immediate sense, and I believe they perceive a megatrend that they hope will be politically profitable to them in the long run.