Quote:
Originally Posted by tirsales
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No, I believe not - because McCarthy was seeing Socialism wherever he wanted (and used this term to denounce political opponents) - and this term is still used like this in the US (at least thats my impression after reading newspapers, discussions, etc)
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I see what you mean. And if you equate the word "socialist" or "socialism" with the
dictionary definition, many Americans will sound like they are "seeing Socialism wherever they want." Maybe even most. But note that common usage in America
does not match the dictionary definition any more.
All that said, the part of the comparison to McCarthy that I was objecting to is that McCarthy deliberately engaged in:
- Denouncing opponents on less-than-no-evidence.
- Destroying careers (and lives!) both wholesale and retail.
- Deploying the machinery of the state to suppress (and oppress) his political opponents.
- Engaging in outright cynical demagoguery for political gain.
And nothing
anyone has said in this thread comes close to being even a pale shadow of
those things.
Xenophon
P.S. I'm not intending to suggest that the stuff I listed is what you had in mind when making the comparison. But it's what springs to mind for most Americans (or so I think), far more than does "misuse" of the term socialist.