Quote Originally Posted by Locke4God
I'm definately aware of the difference between Socialism and Communism, however they are shades of gray. Socialism implies redistribution of wealth and government intervention into society, while Communism is just taking the next step with a full government take over of industry.
Based on those definitions, I'm not convinced you do know the difference between socialism and communism. Communism is more than just taking socialism one step farther, as you claim. To say that Mao Zedong is just a hardcore version of Robert Owen or Benjamin Tucker implies a gross misunderstanding of the complexities of leftist political theory. The term socialism itself is ambiguous. Are we referring to an actual system of government such as utopian socialism or democratic socialism or are we referring simply to the economic opposite of laissez-faire capitalism, which communism, democratic socialism, utopian socialism and anarchism all use in varied forms as economic policy? This issue isn't so black and white.

A side note: everyone here should also know the difference between social democracy and socialism proper. The former is where public health care is steering towards, not the latter.