Defining Capitalism, Socialism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism

How would you like for the Administration to decide how much you will get paid at your job?

I am simply amazed that there is anyone with an IQ over 20 that refuses to acknowledge the largest power grab in American history. This is moving beyond Socialism into Facism.

In case you are not familiar with the true meanings of some words…read these and then call Neal Boortz, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush, and others wrong. Ignore all the blogs out there warning that you are losing your freedom. Close this blog and go watch American Idol.

Capitalism

an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.
Dictionary.com

An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

Socialism

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.
Dictionary.com

1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless, revolutionary social scheme.
Webster’s

1. a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
2. an economic system based on state ownership of capital [ant: capitalism]
Worldnet

Fascism

A governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
Dictionary.com

1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
2. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

A political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or liberalism)
Worldnet

A system of government that flourished in Europe from the 1920s to the end of World War II. Germany under Adolf Hitler, Italy under Mussolini, and Spain under Franco were all fascist states. As a rule, fascist governments are dominated by a dictator, who usually possesses a magnetic personality, wears a showy uniform, and rallies his followers by mass parades; appeals to strident nationalism; and promotes suspicion or hatred of both foreigners and “impure” people within his own nation, such as the Jews in Germany. Although both communism and fascism are forms of totalitarianism, fascism does not demand state ownership of the means of production, nor is fascism committed to the achievement of economic equality. In theory, communism opposes the identification of government with a single charismatic leader (the “cult of personality”), which is the cornerstone of fascism. Whereas communists are considered left-wing, fascists are usually described as right-wing.
American Heritage Dictionary of cultural literacy

Totalitarianism

Absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution.
Dictionary.com

1. Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed: "A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)
2. A practitioner or supporter of such a government.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

1. a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
2. the principle of complete and unrestricted power in government [syn: absolutism]
Worldnet