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Old 04-15-2009, 01:47 PM   #251
Xenophon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tirsales View Post
And there I was believing that somebody ready my posts. Oh well, seems like McCarthy really is like Elvis (still alive). I was under the impression, that Obama might be "left wing", but so far not much of a socialist.
[SNIP Wikipedia quote]
Tirsales -- it seems to me that responding to wodin by invoking McCarthy might be going a bit far. Your wikipedia quote seems like a fine definition. But in most day-to-day discussion here in the US, the operative definition of "socialist" is "farther left than the speaker approves of." And in off-the-cuff conversation, I might well use it that way too. NOT because it's the "correct definition" but rather because I'd expect the person I'm speaking with to understand it that way.

So, maybe we can ask wodin which way he meant it -- the dictionary definition, the common usage, or both?

Xenophon

P.S. My personal view is that Obama is a "socialist" in the common usage sense, but not the dictionary definition sense. But as a small-l-libertarian I don't really fit the traditional left-right divide at all! As always, your mileage may vary.
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