The Guardian reports that "socialism" was the most looked-up word on Merriam-Webster's site this year, a change the American dictionary publisher attributes to US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has positioned of himself as a "democratic socialist".
As a socialist (or communist) myself, I personally think it's great that especially people from the United States try to figure out the meaning of the word beyond McCarthyism. I'm glad that people show interest in politics and finding out about positions of candidates.
Past years winners are available on Wikipedia.
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday December 18 2015, @08:52PM
Ownership is a human construct, not a property of the physical world. We aren't dealing in absolutes here. Does ownership exist in the USA? isn't a yes or no question, and it's silly to treat it as being so.
Here in the UK, the government has the right of 'Compulsory purchase order'. It's used only when necessary, and the 'victims' are compensated, so it's hardly reasonable to call it communism. You're right that in an idealised 'pure ownership' society, the government wouldn't have any such power.