Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Dan Caugherty <caffeine1 AT nc.rr.com>]

>    1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in 
> which the
> means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a
> centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
>    2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between 
> capitalism
> and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the
> dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.
>
> I swear that's not how my high school history/economics teacher told 
> it...

Hmm.. that's not how my teachers or professors explained it either.

It seems the editor of this dictionary focuses primarily on the
Cold War-era definition of socialism, as a stepping-stone to
communism etc.  Both sides of that war were guilty of distorting
the original definition.

Unfortunately, what we've failed to consider is that the concept
predates Lenin, nor was the idea conceived by Karl Marx.
Rather, socialism was first proposed by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy
Bentham, as a reaction to the Dickensian conditions spawned by
the laissez-faire capitalism of their day.

And, as a previous poster mentioned, Europeans are more keenly
aware of the differences between socialism and communism -- so much
so that the political parties claiming to represent each usually
fail to get along.

l8r,

+--Dan Caugherty ------------caffeine1 AT nc.rr.com----+
| "A computer without a Microsoft operating system  |
|  is like a dog without bricks tied to its head."  |
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