...

It's a standard debating technique to confuse an issue. Rather than debate the merits of communism vs capitalism, they will try to debate the (theoretical) differences between communism & some made up term like 'democratic national socialism.'
This way they can cloud the issue enough to win an argument if someone brings up extreme poverty & human rights abuse in any communist/ socialist nation you can find.

2012: We aren’t socialists
2015: Democratic Socialism isn’t the same as socialism
2016: Socialism is different from communism.

Yeah they have a million different things to identify as.

It is called Excuse-ism.

the "socialism will eventually lead to communism" is a major part of marxism. what marx meant by "socialism will eventually lead to a communism" is that "communism" means a stateless, classeless, moneyless society. marx believed that socialism will eventually lead to his imagined communist utopia. (i believe that society is impossible.) the soviet union was technically not real communism- because real communism isn't achievable. in other words, marx believed that socialism will lead to this supposed utopia, and that the idea of a transitional stage of socialism before communism is a principle of marxism.
does that make sense?

Yes

"Dad, why do people say Socialism works when it doesn't?"

"Cuz they don't work either son."

I would say socialism is a stepping stone to communism in the same way capitalism is a stepping stone to fascism. Communism is the same economic system as socialism (which is really all socialism is), but very authoritarian.

Was that a joke?
The only things you mentioned in your comment that have to do with fascism are socialism and communism. They both rely on big government and the masses being dependent on said big government. And, it's a big government that becomes bigger and bigger, and therefore more powerful, every day.

Capitalism relies on smaller government and goes hand-in-hand with less regulatory nonsense. It is the only form of government that lends itself to the highest standard of freedom in the world, which exists only in the USA.

Capitalism: Economic system
Fascism: Capitalism gone too far
Socialism: Economic system
Communism: Socialism gone too far

I would call that pretty simple

Except the second line is false. Fascism comes from socialism and or communism. Otherwise, great little chart there...

U sure?

Can you give me some proof to back it up?

https://opinionfront.com/socialism-vs-fascism

http://www.just-say-why.com/2012/04/21/whats-the-difference-between-fascism-socialism-and-communism/

“Capitalism relies on smaller government and goes hand-in-hand with less regulatory nonsense. It is the only form of government that lends itself to the highest standard of freedom in the world, which exists only in the USA.”

Less regulatory nonsense? Ok, Gordon. Yeah, the Industrial Revolution, when capitalism ran wild was great for the common man. You didn’t have to worry about babysitters because you could just get the young ‘uns to work alongside you in the coal mines. None of those pesky regulations.

By the way, “capitalism” is an economic concept and has absolutely nothing to do with democracy or any other form or government and certainly nothing to do with freedom.

Well, didn't realize I was gonna end up having to converse with someone who should be in the politics stream only, but yeah, good times. You're one of them free-wheelin' wannabe brainiacs, but you're not.

By the way, if hyperbole is all you have, you have no argument, and that's all you have.

And, by the way again, your last paragraph is so retarded that you should be put down for the sake of all intelligent life. Everything you said is false. Countries that employ capitalism as their economic model have a high correlation to the freedoms countries like good ol' USofA has. It's indisputable, but I'm sure you have some moronic argument for me. Nearly all democracies employ some form of capitalism in their economic models. Many are hybrids, just like good ol' USofA has going for it, but capitalism and democracy and freedom are highly correlated. The same cannot be said of socialism and progressivism and diminished freedom.

PS - I cannot go on having a conversation with you because I have no reason to waste my time doing so. So, I'm done, you clearly win, your beliefs and opinions are far superior to mine. I bow down to thee and want to service you as the Lord himself.

I hope you take care, though.

Cheers!

You bring up politics and then you don’t want to talk politics. That tracks.

You seem like a bit of a dick, so good day, sir.

And capitalism is small government, which is anti-fascist. I don’t know why so many leftists call capitalists fascists.

Capitalists aren't fascists. Fascists are capitalists. They aren't mutually inclusive, but not mutually exclusive.

Fascists believe in government regulation, coordination, and control of the industry so as to be more "efficient". None of which is capitalist.

https://www.truth-code.com/2014/05/the-difference-between-fascism.html

This is literally in the article: 'Italian dictator Benito Mussolini defined as “the merger of state and corporate power.” '

Which is what I just said

https://eand.co/why-capitalism-implodes-into-fascism-a06273a68dc9?gi=48a2b975dde8

fascism is not capitalist, end of story

I never said it was. I said it was capitalism gone too far

Government control of the economy is not capitalism

Fascism is, however, ultra-patriotic, heavy focus on military and protected corporate power,

To be honest, I don’t really know too much about fascism, but from what I’ve seen about it, it sounds more like communism and socialism than capitalism.

Yeah, the two extremes of the political spectrum are very similar. The notable similarities are that both are anti-democratic, have state control of all resources, and secret police along with work camps.

That's because they are both tyrannical.

Yup. A bad way to imagine it would be a line or a sheet of paper. A good way to imagine it would be a circle, with Political Extremism being opposite to centrism

Extremists are the worst.

Yup

Karl Marx was certainly a creative, influential, and radical thinker, but history has shown his ideas and predictions weren’t always exactly right.

I would argue the best way to avoid a communist revolution is to ensure that there is never a critical mass of destitute people who feel they have more to gain from revolution than they have to lose.

The best way to ensure that doesn’t happen is by mixing in a little bit of wealth redistribution so that the gap between the haves and have-nots never becomes too great.

You could call that socialism, you could call it a New Deal, you could call it a Great Society, you could call it a mixed economy, you could call it a welfare state.

And it’s what we already have, essentially. These ideas are most commonly associated with Democrats — however, the Covid relief packages passed this year (and most recently this week) show that there is a bipartisan consensus in favor of wealth redistribution especially when the circumstances call for it.

The big difference basically boiled down to whether to give people $600 or $2000 in free helicopter money. And Trump actually favored the latter, in common with Democrats.

Tl;dr socialism can actually be a preventative against communism

Karl Marx has said that all that exists should perish. He was an anti-Semite who hated religion and even stated that he knew he would go to hell.

I believe people are engineering this mass of destitute people so they can get what they want. Also, you can never get a closer gap between the haves and have-nots, because if you tax the rich to the point where they are either middle-class or poor (never mind that we now would have no motivation to be driven), now all the people are have-nots and the government is the haves. This would mean the government would have all the power and influence in the country, alleviating the likelihood of them giving a rip about the American people, or poor.

I say yes, socialism is a small, winded down version of communism. But in order to maintain a stable and diverse community, there needs to be socialism.

Why does socialism need to exist to have a stable society?

Also, please explain why a diverse community is better than a homogenous one.

Something being a “stepping stone” to something else does not equate the two. I smoked weed when I was a teenager. Marijuana is a “stepping stone” to heroin. This does not mean I shot heroin.

The world is not black and white. There are many shades of grey.

First off, marijuana has been used to get people hooked to heroin. And socialism and communism are very similar to the point where socialism can be used just like that.

I smoked weed. I never tried heroin. My older brother smoked weed. He never tried heroin. My younger sister smoked weed. She got hooked on heroin (she’s fully in recovery for fifteen years now).

All communism is socialism but not all socialism is communism. To say otherwise is being dishonest.

My cousin smoked marijuana she got hooked on heroin. I watched it slowly destroy her and her life.

I’m sorry for your loss but we’re kind of getting off the rails of the original point.

I don’t know if the drug legalization subject has been broached on this stream...it’s safe to assume it has, probably multiple times...but it might be worth revisiting in light of recent historic referendums being passed.

She's not dead ID think, the last time my aunt saw her she was living in a shack with people who practice witchcraft.

communism is a form of socialism. that doesn't mean it's the same thing.