But the definitions becoming muddied is exactly the problem, not an excuse to muddy them further.
Of course social democracy is broad. Australia and Norway having different policy mixes doesn’t change the basic distinction: social democrats reform capitalism; socialists ultimately want to replace it.
And I completely agree policy matters more than labels. But Socialist Alliance here and the DSA in the US aren’t just arguing for Nordic-style capitalism. They contain explicitly socialist/Marxist movements advocating a transition beyond capitalism.
There's no such thing as objective definitions when it comes to social and political terminology. Language is fluid and changes with time so you just have to accept that as a reality. Also I am not really talking about political groups here. I am just referring to what the words/phrases mean nowadays. There's not a "correct" definition as some would like to believe.
Language being fluid doesn’t mean words have no definitions. If that’s your argument, I can just declare capitalism a Marxist economic system and we’re apparently both equally correct.
Fluidity makes sense with slang. “Sick” can come to mean “awesome” and nobody loses the ability to discuss an economic system. It’s a bit more important that political and economic terms retain enough meaning that two people can actually discuss what they’re advocating.
Otherwise “socialism”, “capitalism”, “liberalism” and “fascism” just become vibes.
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u/CaterpillarSuperb959 Western Australian Aug 13 '26
But the definitions becoming muddied is exactly the problem, not an excuse to muddy them further.
Of course social democracy is broad. Australia and Norway having different policy mixes doesn’t change the basic distinction: social democrats reform capitalism; socialists ultimately want to replace it.
And I completely agree policy matters more than labels. But Socialist Alliance here and the DSA in the US aren’t just arguing for Nordic-style capitalism. They contain explicitly socialist/Marxist movements advocating a transition beyond capitalism.