socialism vs capitalism

[Paul Mackin]

On 1/2/2012 2:25 PM, Ian Livingston wrote:
> There is a link to the questionnaire used at the top of the column on
> the right side of the page. Given the format, it seems the questions
> were geared to get responses to the words, not to the ideas.
That is my understanding.

The results are useful to politicians campaigning for office. For 
example, Newt running against Obama might score points in calling the 
latter a socialist but it would be pointless, counterproductive even, to 
call him a capitalist.

I imagine Karl Marx if asked would have answered positively to both 
"socialist" and "capitalist."

  He believed capitalism was a hell of a success. (but it would someday 
be time to move along)

I don't know about Groucho.

P


>   It's a
> relatively small fraction of Americans who actually understand the
> ideas in the first place, anyway, so, in order to get responses to the
> actual ideas involved in capitalism and socialism, etc., an accurate
> survey would have to break the ideas into simple terms. Re-posting
> Paul's original link:
> http://www.people-press.org/2011/12/28/little-change-in-publics-response-to-capitalism-socialism/?src=prc-headline
>   Look at the pdfs in the "Report Materials" section on the right.
>
> On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 10:32 AM, Paul Mackin<mackin.paul at verizon.net>  wrote:
>> On 1/2/2012 12:45 PM, Bekah wrote:
>>> If asked if I had a favorable or unfavorable reaction to socialism,  could
>>> I say no?   (or does it have to be one or the other?)
>>
>> The positives and negatives don't add to 100 percent so I guess you could
>> answer no opinion.
>>
>> This latter category accounted for 20 percent with respect to "capitalism"
>> and 19 percent with respect to "socialism."
>>
>> P
>>
>>> Bekah
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jan 2, 2012, at 8:04 AM, Paul Mackin wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 1/1/2012 10:04 PM, David Morris wrote:
>>>>> P-listers should know that the Capitalism/Socialism polarity is false
>>>> True, and I did slightly misstate the survey's question in my own
>>>> introductory question.
>>>>
>>>> The question asked was, do you have a favorable or unfavorable reaction
>>>> to "socialism?" (and same for "capitalism")
>>>>
>>>> No definitions were given, and it would certainly have been possible for
>>>> a respondent to have a negative reaction to both of them, or to neither.
>>>>
>>>>   In other words. it wasn't a choice between the two isms.
>>>>
>>>> P
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On Sunday, January 1, 2012, Paul Mackin<mackin.paul at verizon.net>    wrote:
>>>>>> can you find the three groups that have a more favorable view toward
>>>>>> socialism than capitalism?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.people-press.org/2011/12/28/little-change-in-publics-response-to-capitalism-socialism/?src=prc-headline
>>>>>>
>
>