Do average Americans know the difference between socialism & communism?

[Lex]

Bet you that they do not.

Try to ask someone going off about socialism to explain what it is, or even how it compares to communism.

[DJ13]

1. Since the Bush administration is practicing Fascism, does it matter?

[Union Thug]

2. My Experience: they don't know the difference between fascism and socialism.

And that's not a joke. I used to argue with a right winger who would routinely conflate the two. So, to ask the average american to draw a line between soc. and com. would be like expecting them them to tell the difference between the Russian and Ukranian languages.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Excellent point.

<snip>To know what socialism and fascism are, let us begin by examining some historical examples of each. Fascist states have included Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Tojo's Japan, Franco's Spain, Pinochet's Chile, and possibly Peron's Argentina. If we were to focus on each of these concretes, we would observe numerous differences. For instance, Hitler's Fascism was racist. Mussolini's was not. Mussolini's fascism involved belligerent nationalism. Franco's did not. What unites each of these concretes into a group of similars can be seen in a common definition of fascism: "A governmental system with strong centralized power, permitting no opposition or criticism, controlling all affairs of the nation (industrial, commercial, etc.)" (American College Dictionary, New York: Random House, 1957).

Socialist states have included the USSR(1), Communist China, socialist Sweden, socialist England, Cuba, North Korea, and a handful of lesser regimes in Eastern Europe, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Once again, there is a prima facie difficulty in determining what factor these various states held in common. After all, some socialist regimes (like Sweden's and England's) were elected democratically. Others, like the USSR's and the PRC's, were the result of popular violent revolutions. Still others were the product of either military coup (Cuba, Ethiopia, Vietnam) or foreign invasion (the Eastern Bloc). The trait common to all of these is provided, once again by the definition of socialism: "a theory or system of social organization which advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means or production, capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole" (American College Dictionary).

Now that we have these two concepts (socialism and fascism) squarely on the table, we can spell out their differences and similarities. It is obvious that there are numerous differences between socialism and fascism, the most obvious of which concerns their view of private property. Socialism abolishes the institution entirely; fascism does not. For instance, in the Soviet Union, citizens had to wait years for their names to come up on a list to receive a car from the government. At the same time, everyone is familiar with the existence of wealthy property owners like Oskar Schindler who lived under the Nazi regime. This difference in ideology did in fact manifest itself in actual historical practice. The communists and Social Democrats were, in fact, the main opponents of the rise of Nazi power in Weimar Germany; Nazi Germany and Socialist Russia were at each other's throats in World War II.
<snip>

http://www.lawrence.edu/sorg/OBJECTIVISM/socfasc.html

[napoleon_in_rags]

17. That's a really fruitful topic...

...it also pays to look at the Mussolini and Marx in their own words. Mussolini defined Fascism as the opposite of Marxist communism, and he's right its a very different beast. Fascism is a manufactured mythological framework for the people, its beating heart is propaganda. It strives for total control over every aspect of the individual life...economic, social, intellectual, spiritual. Mussolini defined it as "spiritual" while communism was "materialist", for instance. Communism is above all an economic and materialistic ideology. In its authoritarian forms it rigidly assets material reality as "true" reality, thus the militant anti-religious doctrine you see in authoritarian communist states...But its not innately authoritarian. Fascism is.

[RoyGBiv]

9. People *here* don't know the difference ...

It's rather discouraging.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Probably not.... This is a good resource.

<snip>
Socialism is liberal. More people (preferably everyone) have some say in how the economy works. Democracy is liberal. More people (preferably everyone) have some say in how the government works. "Democracy," said Marx, "is the road to socialism." He was wrong about how economics and politics interact, but he did see their similar underpinnings.

Communism is conservative. Fewer and fewer people (preferably just the Party Secretary) have any say in how the economy works. Republicans are conservative. Fewer and fewer people (preferably just people controlling the Party figurehead) have any say in how the government works. The conservatives in the US are in the same position as the communists in the 30s, and for the same reason: Their revolutions failed spectacularly but they refuse to admit what went wrong.

A common mistake is to confuseSocialism, the economic system, with Communism, the political system. Communists are "socialist" in the same way that Republicans are "compassionate conservatives". That is, they give lip service to ideals they have no intention of practicing.
<snip>
http://www.romm.org/soc_com.html

[Union Thug]

6. ...in much the same way they confuse Capitalism with Democracy n/t

[Lex]

10. When I was a Freshman in college, my Western Civ professor

got so exasperated at us not knowing the difference between Socialism and Communism that we had to write a 2 or 3 page paper (as I recall) explaining the difference!

[melody]

4. There is no average American that isn't a thing of fiction

Just my .02

[Lex]

7. Well I could rephrase it as "do most Americans know"

but it's the same question since most people understand the phrase "average _____________."

[melody]

19. And the difference in the phrase is the difference between

"black people do this" and "some black people do this".

Just making the point.

[Lex]

22. So "average Americans" have a history of discrimination

and over-generalization about their characteristics? Bad analogy.

[DesertFlower]

5. no they don't and that's why

the candidates use the word "universal health care" instead of "socialized medicine". it scares the hell out of the stupid bastards.

[mdmc]

11. what is the difference?

I don't know...

[Lex]

13. Post #3 by BrklynLiberal

has a good answer, imho.

[mdmc]

15. thanks

I read it after posting...

[ColbertWatcher]

12. No. n/t

[RoyGBiv]

14. Of course they don't ...

People who espouse ideologies they call socialism and communism often don't know the difference either.

With communism in particular, it becomes a matter of determining what kind of communism we're talking about. Is it pure Marxism (and what the hell is that even), is it Leninism, Trotskyism, Maoism, etc.?

It's not a simple question, and as incurious as people tend to be, their views tend to fall to whatever standard archetype fits their worldview.

[emilyg]

16. No.

[billyoc]

18. Are you kidding? Most Americans don't know the difference between the Democratic and Republican

parties!

[bean fidhleir]

23. That's because most humans can't perceive differences at that scale

without a microscope.

[ContinentalOp]

20. One is pink and the other is red?

[kevinmc]

21. Do average Americans know the difference between socialism & communism? NO n/t

[ThePowerofWill]

24. Nope.

Here in America we have been inundated by propaganda against socialism since the big red scare. Since right before the 1920's when the crackdown came, and it's been going on ever since.

[raccoon]

25. Hell, no. Average Americans probably think they're the same thing.

ALso, average Americans probably think:

Capitalism = Democracy

Communism = Totalitarianism.

Newsflash to these folks: A government can be both capitalistic and totalitarian.