Here's a great point for debate; you want to restrict the meaning of the word to its political-economic sense, that of possessing the goods of society in common, or some variant thereof.
I choose to acknowledge its conceptual links with other 'ideals', in addition to the obvious.
Socialism, broadly conceived, is the notion that all human desires, rights, and ambitions must be subordinate to, and where possible in the service of, the whole of society rather than in the service of individuals.
This view could argue that modern socialism is an attempt by the fearful to re-create the holistic social order of the Middle Ages, in which your place in life was defined and immutable under ordinary circumstances. Many soi-disant conservatives on this site yearn for a type of social-moral solidarity that would only be possible under just such a feudal regime. They have 'bought into' the basic premise of the iron logic of socialism; namely that the new and improved modern state, born to this world through the travails of WWI, is a perfect vehicle for the social transformation of this imperfect world. Such is their vanity.
The intellectuals of the various factions of 'socialists' have been striving for supremacy ever since that awful French Revolution. First communists and socialists, and then post-WWI the fascists, national socialists and welfare statists, all were convinced that the 'liberal' model of society as developed in Britain and America and copied in many other countries was a failure. The success of the U.S. War Production Board, for example, in rationalizing and expediting the production and delivery of war materiel was taken as proof that planning was superior to market competition from both an efficiency and a humanitarian point of view. The tragedy of the 20th Century is that for decades, few people argued with this view.
Since WWI, the entire world has raced towards the ascendency of the one perfect socialist state, which will plan the whole world! We live in a world much more chaotic than the one Orwell prophesied, but the ominous tendency of mankind to facilitate these totalitarian dreamers is equally frightening. There is no doubt in my mind that the leading and most successful candidate for the socialist crown of this world is none other than the good old U.S. of A. And some of these aspiring 'vanguard elements' are as American as apple pie and are posting on this forum.
The vain ambition to make perfect this imperfect world is the true enemy of liberty...and Constitutional government.
"Vanity. All is vanity."
Hardly 'crazy-wacko'....;^)
"All is vanity."
He flat out refuses debates of substance; i.e., where he can't use his collection of hackneyed sound-bites as a substitute for honest contention.
Honesty is a virtue these types are unacquainted with. They must think simple conformity suffices as a substitute for all the difficult bits of moral reasoning.
Standing by for substantive challenges.