yes, conservatives are socialists, too.
socialism, like most of the other broad economic ideas, has a very short definition: it is the state's ownership of the means of production. the "means of production" just means the processes and tools used to make goods and services, or, to put it even simpler - stuff that makes stuff.
i alter the popular definition this way: socialism is the state-titled control of the means of production. that definition, though it sounds more confusing, is meant to separate the idea of ownership from the idea of legal title. true ownership is the entitlement to goods or services obtained voluntarily, or without the use of fraud, threats or violence. governments come by virtually everything they have through the use of fraud, threats or violence - taxation relies on threatening people with fines or imprisonment, inflation requires fraud by undermining the value of a currency without the consent of those forced (by legal tender laws) to use it. land is often confiscated by force for use in government projects or to be given away to political allies in the pseudo-private sector; the list goes on.
so, when i say "state-titled control", i'm pointing out that a government doesn't actually legitimately own anything, they simply have a legal title to it and forced control over it. it avoids mixing up philosophical ideas.
anyway, all of that is just to let you know why i call conservatives socialists. of course, i also call liberals socialists, but i call every stripe of statist a socialist. it's really pretty simple: if you support, call for or advocate the state-titled control of the means of production in any market sector, you're a socialist - by definition.
when conservatives call for the government to control defense, justice or police, or immigration or agricultural production, or anything else - which they commonly do - they are calling for socialism.
anyone who calls for socialism is a socialist and conservatives, as well as others, are socialists.
if that makes you uncomfortable, then stop calling for socialism. there's only one thing that solves so-called social problems and that's the market. i know that isn't obvious to most folks, but all it takes is a little reading to understand it. here's a great place to start:
http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
i alter the popular definition this way: socialism is the state-titled control of the means of production. that definition, though it sounds more confusing, is meant to separate the idea of ownership from the idea of legal title. true ownership is the entitlement to goods or services obtained voluntarily, or without the use of fraud, threats or violence. governments come by virtually everything they have through the use of fraud, threats or violence - taxation relies on threatening people with fines or imprisonment, inflation requires fraud by undermining the value of a currency without the consent of those forced (by legal tender laws) to use it. land is often confiscated by force for use in government projects or to be given away to political allies in the pseudo-private sector; the list goes on.
so, when i say "state-titled control", i'm pointing out that a government doesn't actually legitimately own anything, they simply have a legal title to it and forced control over it. it avoids mixing up philosophical ideas.
anyway, all of that is just to let you know why i call conservatives socialists. of course, i also call liberals socialists, but i call every stripe of statist a socialist. it's really pretty simple: if you support, call for or advocate the state-titled control of the means of production in any market sector, you're a socialist - by definition.
when conservatives call for the government to control defense, justice or police, or immigration or agricultural production, or anything else - which they commonly do - they are calling for socialism.
anyone who calls for socialism is a socialist and conservatives, as well as others, are socialists.
if that makes you uncomfortable, then stop calling for socialism. there's only one thing that solves so-called social problems and that's the market. i know that isn't obvious to most folks, but all it takes is a little reading to understand it. here's a great place to start:
http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
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