The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was merge to Red-baiting selectively. Editors reached consensus that the topics are the same, or at least best covered in the same place. (non-admin closure) ((u|Sdkb)) ^talk 18:03, 23 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Socialist (insult) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)

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So I get the point with this article, but I doubt that we can separate the epithet 'socialist' from any normal definition of 'socialist'? A wide variety of political terms can be construed as insults depending on context, 'socialist' is by no means an exception. 'Fascist', on the other hand, is a very peculiar case as the definition in common parlance today has very little to do with the original, self-identified fascist movement. Soman (talk) 21:59, 16 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politics-related deletion discussions. Curbon7 (talk) 23:03, 16 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete per WP:NOTEVERYTHING. Any word can be an insult when you really think about it. KidAd • SPEAK 23:31, 16 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Comment the present article to my view suffers from SYNTH, but there is RS on the notion of the term "socialist" as an insult. However, from what I can see, almost all the sourcing on that topic locates socialist within the wider framework of attacks on the left, ie red-baiting. FWIW, I find the title misleading, insult is personal and implies relations between individuals, but the label of "socialist" had (can have) profound consequences far beyond being an insult (eg loss of employment, imprisonment, death) and historically has frequently been backed with institutional power (eg state agency surveillance) So, rather than delete, I'd lean more towards a redirect to red-baiting. Regards, --Goldsztajn (talk) 23:51, 16 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Redirect to Red-baiting: I am in 100% agreeance with Goldsztajn. A redirect to red-baiting is the most appropriate action here; these two pages are exactly the same concept. Curbon7 (talk) 04:52, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete or Merge with Red-baiting. From looking over the (huge amount of) sources looks like a minor case of WP:SYNTH and possibly WP:REFBOMBING. Most political designations can be used as an insult by a differing factor or someone wanting to miscategorise the other's views. Agree with the above comment that this does not have the same notability as Fascist (insult). The article is trying to cover 'communist' and 'marxist' (in some sources) as an insult so a merge with red-baiting makes sense. I don't really support redirecting as no articles link to this page and it is highly unlikely someone would search for this exact term. Vladimir.copic (talk) 05:32, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Merge with Red-baiting: Per reasons provided by others, which seem persuasive to me. As others have pointed out, you could add "(insult)" to pretty much any word to generate an article, which seems problematic. To the extent there is unique content, it should be merged to Red-baiting. DocFreeman24 (talk) 06:22, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep/merge The title needs work but the sources indicate that there's a substantial topic here. The scope of the article includes other similar words like "communist" and this is not just a US "red scare" thing – I noticed in recent news coverage that the Taliban execute communists out of hand. This is a new article and applicable policies include WP:ATD, WP:BITE, WP:CENSOR, WP:NOTCLEANUP, WP:PRESERVE. Andrew🐉(talk) 10:42, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete. You could have twenty pages just for ideology names hurled around as insults. I hear Liberal thrown around more as an insult than socialist, but where's the page on that? HadesTTW (he/him • talk) 13:41, 21 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete: (or merge with Red Baiting) the SYNTH and NPOV concerns aside, there are very few non-opinion RS that describe this topic in-depth. It's mostly just a passing mention, see for example Fortune, CBS News etc. Dr. Swag Lord (talk) 19:51, 21 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

 Comment: First of all, I appreciate the response and fair criticism. "'Fascist', on the other hand, is a very peculiar case as the definition in common parlance today has very little to do with the original, self-identified fascist movement." I thought that 'socialism', or 'communist', has become the same, as it is has been used to describe people who have nothing to do with either, or where it is used to mean 20th-century Communist regimes when many socialists and communists were the first to criticized them back in 1917 and do not want to recreate command economies or force them through authoritarianism; of course, it has overlap with 'red-baiting', and it has been used to criticize, or as an insult for, the whole Left. I could have used 'buzzword', 'epithet', or 'scare word', but for consistency I used the same title of Fascist (insult) because that was its example on the other hand of the spectrum, and my intent was focusing on the pejorative (i.e. they are used to mean either 20th-century Communist regimes or any expansion of the government) more than red-baiting. I disagree that "you could add '(insult)' to pretty much any word to generate an article, which seems problematic" because, while true to an extent, it is only notable for the Left and fascism.

P.S. Either way, I think they would be an improvement for the Red-baiting article, and they could be used as redirects; a Definition of socialism article is needed, so we could also cover the use as an insult, pejorative, etc. "From looking over the (huge amount of) sources looks like a minor case of WP:SYNTH and possibly WP:REFBOMBING." I thought synthesis does not warrant deletion, otherwise Mass killings under communist regimes would have been done with a long time ago. Davide King (talk) 07:17, 17 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

• Redirect or selectively merge to the Red-baiting article. The point of the insult is to bait people and heap anger upon them. Bearian (talk) 16:59, 23 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.