Comment Re:Curious... (Score 1) 786
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Here, simple enough even for you.http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Socialism Public CONTROL not ownership, CONTROL over economic decisions is the defining characteristic of socialism.
Obviously this is very important to you and if you want to get the last word in that is fine, I'm done posting after this. But I have to wonder though if you meant to post a link to something else because the first line under the heading "Socialism" in your link says this:
An economic and social theory that seeks to maximize wealth and opportunity for all people through public ownership and control of industries and social services.
Perhaps I do have a simple mind, but "public ownership" would seem to be part of that definition. While the word "control" is also used, it refers to control of industries, not just economic decisions.
Look, if you'd prefer to put countries on scale with "Capitalist" on the right side and "Socialist" on the left, I'd agree that Germany and many Scandinavian are further left than we are. However, if you are going to label them either capitalist or socialist, they are definitely more capitalist. More to my point, any mainstream US Democrat or Republican is definitely to the right of center on the scale.