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prase comments on [POLL] LessWrong census, mindkilling edition [closed, now with results] - Less Wrong
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Comments (43)
Exactly zero of the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc...) have anything approximating a "centrally planned economy in which the government controls all means of production". I recommend changing the term (welfare state or Nordic model might be closer to what you were getting at) or the examples (North Korea is probably the only one left that fits the bill).
Self-identified socialists wouldn't probably agree to use definitions from a libertarian website.
I would normally agree, but in this case, the "libertarian website" is actually an encyclopedia article by Robert Heilbroner. Also, the above definition seems to be in agreement with alternative sources.
Oxford Dictionaries:
Merriam-Webster:
New Advent:
As a Norwegian, I was happy to pick that option. I think of myself as roughly socialist.
It doesn't mean "centrally planned economy" to me.
You are at liberty to use the word any way you wish, but dictionaries, encyclopedias, and economics textbooks seem to mean something different by it.
Dictionaries, encyclopedias and economics textbooks in which countries?
I suppose we could claim the norwegian word "sosialist" doesn't quite map to the english word "socialist", though.
Sounds plausible.
I retract the "libertarian website" part *. A reformulated version of my remark is: The respondents who identified themselves as socialists wouldn't probably agree with Heilbroner's definition of socialism. I was addressing futility of arguing over definitions rather than a possible libertarian bias.
*) My mistake was caused by the title Library of Economics and Liberty and the fact that the site is maintained by the Liberty Fund, whose description of themselves sounds typically libertarian.
The Oxford Dictionary definition you supply is the one I generally see in use:
Every nation-state on Earth has a government that regulates the means of production, distribution, and exchange. That doesn't seem like a very useful definition.