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As are corruption and capitalism, corruption and monarchy, corruption and communism, corruption and just about every large-scale human endeavor (as well as a lot of the small-scale ones!).

If you only associate corruption with socialism, that seems like an uninformed view of the world.



Doesn't seem like an uninformed worldview, it is an uninformed world view.

https://assets.weforum.org/editor/cYHll0JXGc8zJzpkmvOPzcTTjI...

Top 10, at least 5 are socialist (I make it 8, Singapore and Switzerland aren't).

Of course this is a perception study but I'd argue broadly accurate based on other metrics.

This "socialism bad, laissez fair capitalism good" thing gets old and largely seems to be a misunderstanding that Socialism != Communism.


I would say all 10 are clearly capitalist. All have strong recognition of property rights including private property in the means of production.

It is unfortunate that political terminology is muddy enough to allow for this sort of confusion. If I think these 10 countries are capitalist and you think 8 of them are socialist, what is the likelihood of us having a useful conversation discussing capitalism and socialism?


Socialism doesn't preclude capitalism, it just harnesses for a different goal.


Perhaps your idea of socialism, but not many others' ideas. That's the problem.

A lot of people who cheer for socialism believe capitalism, in the sense of private property in the means of production, is a problem and should be abolished. Others, like yourself, are advocating fundamentally capitalist states with extensive welfare programs like Denmark or Sweden.

Unfortunately, the word socialism is used in both senses quite commonly, and it isn't always easy to tell the intent from the word.

(Also, I think sometimes the advocates of socialism aren't very clear on what they mean themselves. Which is unfortunate, as the difference between the two meanings is enormous.)

To be fair, it isn't just fans of socialism who perpetuate this. It does not help when right wingers insist on calling Obama a socialist.

Since the fraction of internet socialists who would actually like to try Marxist totalitarianism one more time is fairly sizable, I tend to assume the worst when I see people choosing that word for themselves.

I will say, if you care about distancing yourself from the totalitarian socialists, but you still like the sound of "socialism", making sure to describe yourself a "democratic socialist" does get the idea across. It's not my favorite term but at least it does suggest Sweden rather than Maoist China.


You can not change the definition of words to suit your idiological needs. Inform yourself about what words mean before going into a politcal discussion.

Their are some words that have many meanings, when you want to use those, you should provide the appropirate addition to communicat your idea.




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