BREAKING DOWN THE "ISM'S"

Definition of SOCIALISM
1
: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2
a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3
: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Examples of SOCIALISM
    1.    She is quite right, for example, to stress that Thatcher's crusade against socialism was not merely about economic efficiency and prosperity but that above all, “it was that socialism itself—in all its incarnations, wherever and however it was applied—was morally corrupting.” —Stephen Pollard, New York Times Book Review, 18 Jan. 2009
    2.    Lenin's great genius, of course, was for ideology, which was redefined all too often to support the tactical requirements of the moment. But owing to his fanatical conviction of his own righteousness, especially where socialism was concerned, and also to the Promethean force of his will, his pronouncements were enshrined by his followers as universal truths. —Michael Scammell, New Republic, 20 Dec. 1999

<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

Definition of CAPITALISM
: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market

Examples of CAPITALISM
    1.    Capitalism is at once far too rational, trusting in nothing that it cannot weigh and measure, and far too little as well, accumulating wealth as an end in itself. —Terry Eagleton, Harper's, March 2005
    2.    The United States has assumed a global burden—not just fighting terrorism and rogue states, but spreading the benefits of capitalism and democracy … —Brian Urquhart, New York Review Of Books, 9 Oct. 2003
    3.    The city was then the great maw of American capitalism. —Christopher Hitchens, Atlantic, August 2002
    4.    I am not the first to point out that capitalism, having defeated Communism, now seems to be about to do the same to democracy. The market is doing splendidly, yet we are not, somehow. —Ian Frazier, On The Rez, 2000
    5.    Even Cuba's famed health-care system has been unable to resist the siren song of capitalism. The Frank Pais Hospital … now offers “for pay” surgery to foreigners. —Ann Louise Bardach, Vanity Fair, March 1995

<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism?show=0&t=1343836369

Definition of FASCISM
1
often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2
: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control <early instances of army fascism and brutality — J. W. Aldridge>

Examples of FASCISM
    1.    the rise of Fascism in Europe before World War II
    2.    From the first hours of Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, the propagandists on both sides of the conflict portrayed the struggle in stark, Manichaean language. The totalitarian nature of both regimes made this inevitable. On one side stood Hitler, fascism, the myth of German supremacy; on the other side stood Stalin, communism, and the international proletarian revolution. —Anne Applebaum, New York Review of Books, 25 Oct. 2007
    3.    Consider what happened during the crisis of global fascism. At first, even the truth about Hitler was inconvenient. Many in the west hoped the danger would simply go away. —Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006
    4.    He collected stories about groups similar to his—Aryans, other Nazis, the KKK. Lately, he'd been flagging many stories from Germany and Eastern Europe, and was quite thrilled with the rise of fascism there. —John Grisham, The Chamber, 1995

<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism?show=0&t=1343836690

Definition of COMMUNISM
1
a : a theory advocating elimination of private property b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
2
capitalized a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d : communist systems collectively

Examples of COMMUNISM
    1.    On one side stood Hitler, fascism, the myth of German supremacy; on the other side stood Stalin, communism, and the international proletarian revolution. —Anne Applebaum, New York Review of Books, 25 Oct. 2007
    2.    … I grew up in an idyllic midwestern town in the 1950's, when America was obsessed with the threat of communism. In Lawrence, Kansas, people felt the cold war as something real and very close. In the first grade, my teacher pointed to a giant orange blob on the map. That was Russia, Mrs. Postma announced. They were bigger than we were, and they were out to destroy us. —Sara Paretsky, Booklist, 1 May 2003
    3.    Like me, he has lived his adult life in the context of the cold war. He was … in some sense always justified, at the back of his mind, by a concept of freedom, of America, that took sharpness from contrast with Communism. —John Updike, New York Times Book Review, 5 Aug. 1990
    4.    Communism is a religion of the state, committed to the extinction of the Church. —Flannery O'Connor, The Habit Of Being, 1979

<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism
Definition of AUTOCRATIC
1
: of, relating to, or being an autocracy : absolute <an autocratic government>
2
: characteristic of or resembling an autocrat : despotic <an autocratic ruler>

Examples of AUTOCRATIC
    1.    <democracy is supposed to protect the people against the rise of autocratic rulers>
    2.    <an autocratic Boy Scout leader who is under the delusion that he's still an army colonel>

Related to AUTOCRATIC
Synonyms: arbitrary, absolute (also autocratical), czarist (also tsarist or tzarist), despotic, dictatorial, monocratic, tyrannical (also tyrannic), tyrannous

<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autocratic

Definition of DICTATORIAL
1
a : of, relating to, or befitting a dictator <dictatorial power> b : ruled by a dictator
2
: oppressive to or arrogantly overbearing toward others

Examples of DICTATORIAL
    1.    He was given dictatorial powers.
    2.    <a dictatorial leader with total control over people's lives>
<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dictatorial

Definition of TYRANNY
1
: oppressive power <every form of tyranny over the mind of man — Thomas Jefferson>; especially : oppressive power exerted by government <the tyranny of a police state>
2
a : a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; especially : one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state b : the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant
3
: a rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force <living under the tyranny of the clock — Dixon Wecter>
4
: an oppressive, harsh, or unjust act : a tyrannical act <workers who had suffered tyrannies>

<SOURCE> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tyranny
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