[Yardstick]

Is this really that confusing? Seems to me it's perfectly reasonable for me to say the following: "By Definition 1, the USA is Not Socialist and neither is any other country. By Definition 2, Socialism is a sliding scale; the USA is more Socialist than it used to be, and still less socialist than the USSR ever was." As long as one is clear about which definition one is using, and when, then no confusion should arise.

That's what it boils down to, isn't it. Since the answer ends up having to be in comparative terms anyways, maybe a better question for this thread would have been: "Do you agree that our country is far more socialist than it was 100 years ago?"

Of course, the real question is this: "Why hasn't the Republican party been able to stop our country's drift towards socialism and collectivism, and away from capitalism and individualism?" This question is at the root of all those blazing-hot Republican-vs-Libertarian and Bush-vs-Keyes megathreads that we see around here. Republicans' sensitivity to this question is also why Dr.Frank was accused earlier of being a commie-lover, and I suspect it may also have something to do with Huck's evasiveness.

[Huck]

Re: 252--I generally agree with your comments, except the part about my evasiveness. I think you are confusing my general thick-headedness for evasion. It is a common mistake, one that gets me into a lot of trouble, but one for which I take full responsibility.