It's been my experience that 95% of the general American public don't understand what the often maligned, political hot-button word 'Socialism' means.
That number leaps up to approximately 99.999% of registered all Republicans and Libertarians...
Fueled by the right wing echo chamber of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, etc.--to these people, Socialism is indifferent to Communism and one step ahead of Fascism.
Logic be damned, these folks are economic experts: Socialism bad, Capitalism good! No socialized health care! Even if I have no health care coverage and can't afford a doctor!! Now let me go vote for George W. Bush!!
I've found, however, that when confronted with the most remedial of every day facts, such as that our public libraries, public parks system, interstate highway system, fire departments, police departments, public school systems....post offices are all quintessentially government run socialist enterprises--these same experts become flummoxed and dumbfounded.
So, the next time you throw around the terms 'Socialism' and 'Capitalism' and the 'Free Market'...actually take 5 seconds to actually ponder what you are trying to say.
It might improve the quality of the current public debate.
