[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Skybird

That's the biggest problem with Democracy: if you're going to have true freedom, you have to allow everyone to speak his mind, even if he advocates taking away your freedoms.

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Can I get a working definition of the difference between communism and socialism?

com·mu·nism
–noun
1.a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
2.(often initial capital letter) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.
3.(initial capital letter) the principles and practices of the Communist party.
4.communalism.

True communism is to be found in definitions 1 and 4, and would be a great way to live if people were perfect. Unfortunately...

Americans usually take 'Communism' to be definition 2, which can cause confusion if you're having a philosophical discussion and the other guy is having a political one.

so·cial·ism
–noun
1.a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2.procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3.(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

By these definitions communism and socialism are indeed very similar. On the other hand, most Americans, especially the right wing, don't interpret 'socialism' that way. They take it to mean using government power (as opposed to just government money - an oxymoron in itself) to force programs that the opposition claims "is for the good of all". They see this as tending toward 'CommuSocialism' as practiced by the USSR, which follows 'socialism' definition 3, but in a perverted sort of way.

This is why I disagree with Firewall's observation: it shows the problem of addressing a commonly accepted definition while ignoring the true definition. Nothing wrong with that, but it does lead to some interesting discussions.

Addendum: True democracy and true communism are flip sides of the same coin, one being the political side and the other being the social. But, as James Madison said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."