Quote:
Originally Posted by HedonistForever
Show you what, that many Americans define Socialism as more government instead of less government that Conservatives prefer?
You have the right to tell me that I can't re-define a word and that I must accept somebody else's definition and I have the right to tell you that I will continue to re-define any word I choose to. It's called free speech. You get to tell me that in your opinion, I'm wrong and I get to tell you that in my opinion, you're wrong and the people reading this can decide for themselves who is right and who is wrong. To suggest that the meaning of words can't/ have never changed is naive at best, ignorant at worst.
https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-...ery-different/
20 words that once meant something very different
Words change meaning all the time — and over time. Language historian Anne Curzan takes a closer look at this phenomenon, and shares some words that used to mean something totally different.
Words have been changing meaning — sometimes radically — as long as there have been words and speakers to speak them.
https://www.virtuescience.com/etymol...over-time.html
Etymology is the study of the origins of words.
As languages develop the meaning of words can change over time. This causes confusion and misunderstanding when communicating with other people.
In my opinion, this is what has happened to the word Socialism. Like it or not, millions of Americans are re-defining the word and millions of people like you, are apparently upset that people are re-defining a word that you insist is sacrosanct. It isn't.
So when people like SR want to argue the meaning of Socialism, I was merely trying to explain how the word has acquired a different meaning whether one likes it or not. When people accuse Biden and Democrats of Socialist ideas, some, not all are referring to bigger government involvement that they do not want. Recently, Scandinavian Counties were asking Americans to stop calling them Socialist countries because they didn't think they were.
https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/denmark-tells-bernie-sanders-to-stop-calling-it-socialist/
Denmark Tells Bernie Sanders It's Had Enough Of His 'Socialist' Slurs
And if you want to say that a words definition or meaning can never change, you are bucking history.
Just look at at how the word "Gender" has changed in just the last few years. Some people not only want to re-define the word, some people want to eliminate it as obsolete and will argue to the death "their" meaning.
So instead of telling me that nobody has the right to re-define the word Socialism because Webster's has the final say on such matters, continue to make an argument why I'm wrong in your opinion but don't try and tell people they can't re-define a word which happens quite often.
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I am sorry to say this because in the past I have respected the majority of your posts but to say you have the right to define a word as you choose and expect others to respect your definition is ridiculous.
With that said, I never said I don't accept the alternate definition of socialism you presented which is "more government involvement". The "old" definition of socialism would be TOTAL government involvement. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, welfare, Obamacare. I support them all and don't mind a portion of my tax dollars going towards them.
So I will ask again -- even using the "new" definition of socialism, what specific policies is Biden proposing that lead us to more government involvement in our everyday lives?
