Socialism is when the government does stuff, and the more stuff the government does, the more socialism you got. And if the government does a REAL lotta stuff, it's communism
by Donna tramp January 16, 2021
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A socio-economic system where the means of production are owned by the workers and not by the investors and a system which frequently and mistakenly gets mixed up with "social welfare state" idea, which leads people to think that Denmark, Norway and Sweden are socialist countries.
A: I support socialism because Sweden has become a wonderful country thanks to socialism.

B: Sweden is a country where the free market policies are adopted along with a social welfare state and it has nothing to do with socialism.
by Les aveux du garcon August 15, 2016
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Socialism is when the government does stuff. And it's more socialism the more stuff it does. And if it does a real lot of stuff, it's communism.
Russians: Hey Karl Marx what's these new ideologies you've been creating?
Karl Marx: Socialism is when the government does stuff. And it's more socialism the more stuff it does. And if it does a real lot of stuff, it's communism.
by Maisonave September 30, 2020
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1. The political philosophy that the means of production should be owned by the working public rather than individuals. This can be interpreted in a vast number of ways. For instance, the public may own property through the government or through various workers' organizations.

Socialism is not social democracy (socialism has nothing to do with taxing people or pouring money into welfare programs). Nor is socialism necessarily communism (many socialists believe in the right to personal property and not in the redistribution of income).

To put it briefly: socialism is the idea that those who work to create a profit should receive it. You can make money by working but not by exploiting others.

2. The extension of democratic ideals into the economy.
Neither Cuba nor Sweden lives up to the ideology of socialism.
by Coffee Eyes July 11, 2008
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When some iPhone
i love socialism as much as i love iPhones, sometimes good, sometimes bad
by hobobillybobjoe March 17, 2021
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1) An economic system where the means of production (large machinery, equipment and land) are organized to directly produce goods and services for use as opposed to being owned and operated for private profit. It entails some form of public, cooperative or collective ownership in the either autonomous cooperatives or a network of public entities or a centralized state.

There are many models of socialism that vary in three ways: the coordinating mechanism for making economic decisions (economic planning or market socialism); the type of ownership; and how firms are managed (self-management, democratic management, etc).

The fundamental difference between socialism and capitalism is the elimination of private property in socialized production under socialism (i.e; in highly collective and mechanized industries) so no idle class can live off profits, rent and interest. Instead of going to a class of capitalists, the profit might go to all the workers in a firm (in cooperative types of socialism) or to the public at large (in public/state ownership types of socialism) - potentially eliminating the need for taxation as a source of public revenue.

2) Political movements that advocate a socialist economic system; but sometimes it is used to refer to the policies of self-described Communist or Social democratic parties regardless of whether or not these policies have anything to do with socialism as a different economic system than capitalism.
"I am a socialist; I think capitalism is unjust and becoming inefficient for providing for society as a whole."

"Soo... you think we should tax the rich to pay for social programs and regulate businesses to make them work for 'society'?"

"That is not socialism... socialism means changing the ownership of enterprises. In fact, socialism would mean we don't need to rely so much on taxes because the profits made by enterprises could be used to replace the role of taxes in financing public services. And regulation is just an attempt to correct market failures in capitalism, socialism would not require inefficient regulation because we would directly own and run enterprises."
by Fighting Falcon May 13, 2012
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Term invented by the affluent to convince the average that the remote possibility of great wealth is worth sacrificing health care, education, and a decent life for seniors. In other words as long as you too can be a Bilderberg, even if the chance is as remote as yogic flying, then the 98% of the population who cannot afford extensive health care, post-secondary education, or retirement savings can all suffer.
"You're being the poster child for socialism donating money to the Cancer Society, even though the pursuit of profit has allowed the use of Atrazine, DDT, BPA, PCB's and other carcinogens to be so affluent some have appeared in rain water.

Just because capital pursuit has indiscriminately stolen from every single living organism it's right to live free from toxic byproducts in the manufacture of our fuel, food, and plastics - it does not make you and I as direct consumers responsible.
by Hydroguy March 5, 2010
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