I am ashamed to say that I was never clear on the difference between communisim and socialism.

[No Elephants]

Assuming it is correct, this seems like a clear, concise explanation.

Socialism and communism are ideological doctrines that have many similarities as well as many differences. One point that is frequently raised to distinguish socialism from communism is that socialism generally refers to an economic system, and communism generally refers to both an economic system and a political system. The means of production are publicly owned in both systems, but the ways that money and resources are distributed are different. In socialism, each person is allotted resources according to his or her input, or amount of work, and in communism, each person is allotted resources according to his or her needs. Many people consider communism to be a "higher" or more extreme form of socialism.

As an economic system, socialism seeks to manage the economy through deliberate and collective social control. Communism, however, seeks to manage both the economy and the society by ensuring that property is owned collectively and that control over the distribution of resources is centralized to achieve both classlessness and statelessness. Under communism, all people are considered equal and are provided for equally, regardless of their contributions to the economy or to society. This is different from socialism, but both socialism and communism are similar in that they seek to prevent many of the ill effects that are sometimes associated with capitalism, such as economic inequality.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-difference-between-socialism-and-communism.htm


I guess the extreme left is communism and the extreme right is fascism.

·cism (fshzm)
n.
1. often Fascism
a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

fas·cistic (f-shstk) adj.

Word History: It is fitting that the name of an authoritarian political movement like Fascism, founded in 1919 by Benito Mussolini, should come from the name of a symbol of authority. The Italian name of the movement, fascismo, is derived from fascio, "bundle, (political) group," but also refers to the movement's emblem, the fasces, a bundle of rods bound around a projecting axe-head that was carried before an ancient Roman magistrate by an attendant as a symbol of authority and power. The name of Mussolini's group of revolutionaries was soon used for similar nationalistic movements in other countries that sought to gain power through violence and ruthlessness, such as National Socialism.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fascism

This guy, Sheldon Richman (real namea?), says that fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer.



http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Fascism.html#abouttheauthor


This is what he says, in part:

As an economic system, fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer. The word derives from fasces, the Roman symbol of collectivism and power: a tied bundle of rods with a protruding ax. In its day (the 1920s and 1930s), fascism was seen as the happy medium between boom-and-bust-prone liberal capitalism, with its alleged class conflict, wasteful competition, and profit-oriented egoism, and revolutionary Marxism, with its violent and socially divisive persecution of the bourgeoisie. Fascism substituted the particularity of nationalism and racialism—“blood and soil”—for the internationalism of both classical liberalism and Marxism.

more: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Fascism.html

I take it this to discredit liberals by associating them with both communism and fascism, even though fascism is the extreme right. And he says that fascism embodies corporatism, so I guesss that means he wants to hang on liberals that which they hate.

So, what does that leave? According to wiki, this guy's organization, the Foundation for Economic Education, is libertarian.

If both fascism and communism are associated with liberals, and true libertarianism is the ideal, I wonder what this guy considers extreme right? But, I don't wonder anywhere near enough to read lots at this site.

[Enthusiast]

1. Obviously Sheldon Richman has it wrong.

"Foundation for Economic Education" sounds like just one more bogus organization.

All of these various definitions or fascism, socialism and communism are subject to criticism.

We know what we don't like. And we know what we don't want. And this is always at odds the wealthy and powerful. This struggle resulted in the founding of the nation.

[No Elephants]

2. IMO, the 1% founded this nation for the 1%.

I agree that we know what we want and what we don't want. If only we had power.