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No, don't, please. Do Not let go of a word and its definition. It has a definition, and you must stick with it and not give them an inch of ground. It's a losin
by zo1 12y ago
No, don't, please. Do Not let go of a word and its definition. It has a definition, and you must stick with it and not give them an inch of ground. It's a losing battle, where constant re-definition means that eventually anything applies under the term.
Giving them ground is precisely why you, and others think that we've lost the term "capitalism". For so long, we let individuals use it in bastardized terms to refer to grey-area capitalism, and allowed its use to be in the form of a pejorative.
- dragonwriter 12y agoThe term "capitalism" was coined by socialists in the context of criticism of the dominant 19th century system of the developed world, which had all the features of cronyism, etc., that you are trying to exclude here. The idea that capitalism was ever anything else was an attempt by defenders of that system to whitewash it, distract from the cronyism inherent in it, and discredit critics. But its part of what "capitalism" has meant from day one -- and part of what every actual capitalist system in practice has featured prominently.
- wcummings 12y agoLanguage is an extension of war without violence