A "socialist" believes that all power in a society should reside in a central authority. The government should have control of every aspect of the lives of its citizens, with the primary initial target being economic activity.

Naive leftist people--or ones that think WE are naive--insist they are not "socialists" because they do not advocate the government "owning" the "means of production," or private companies.

They do, however, advocate the government telling the private companies what they can sell, how much they can charge, who they can hire, who they can fire, what they can manufacture, where they can build factories, what processes to use, where they can get materials, how they can ship, and how wide the toilet doors are.

Does it really matter after all that who "owns" the company?

Other than the single phony issue of "government ownership of the means of production," the "left" and the Democratic Party advocate almost every position taken by the socialists.

That is why they are associated with the socialists.

Socialism's record is written across history in the destruction of nations, and the deaths of over 80 million people--not counting deaths from war--at the hands of socialist governments.

Which is why some of us think it's not such a good idea.