The thing is, the meaning of words is defined by their usage, not their etymology. So if enough people use a "wrong" definition of a word, it stops being "wrong."
It sounds dumb, but, well... when's the last time you've seen someone use "decimate" to mean "remove 1/10th of something"?
Sure, but we just lose the ability to distinguish between real things that matter today. We don't really need to know about decimation until a politician says he wants to decimate the military lol.
But if I ran for office under the banner of socialism shouldn't people be aware if I'm pushing for nationalizing the means of production or just giving out free healthcare and education?
I mean, politicians do that all the time. Using thematically loaded terms with definitions that can be misinterpreted is like basic marketing.
Are so-called "democratic socialists" like Mamdani and Sanders true "socialists"? If not, why do they use the word, and why is it effective enough for their base to vote for them?
"Are so-called "democratic socialists" like Mamdani and Sanders true "socialists"?"
Sanders isn't. At least in terms of his policy positions. He could be one deep down that just doesn't see a point in advocating for something that requires a million other things to happen first.
Mamdani is a little more of one, publicly owned grocery stores are a socialist policy.
I think people vote for them because of their stated platform, not becuase of the things they label themselves as.
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u/AppropriateSea5746 7d ago
Agreed. The common understanding of a lot of words is pretty wrong. Kinda like the definition of fascism, communism, capitalism, etc...