[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by tirsales

Its not the "misuse" of the term - its the denoting character of its usage: Ideas or people get rejected simply because they are "socialistic" - and so far I fail to understand the reasoning behind.

Taxes. The US started in a tax revolt (or so our history books tell us). Anything that makes our taxes go up is loudly condemned.

But there is also the misnomer in American thought that "social program" (such as welfare) is the same thing as socialism.