All collectivist ideologies are merely communism in different forms, that weight different aspects of control distinctively. Collectivism exists on a continuous manifold, and the distinction where someone says "That's socialism" vs. "That's communism" ignores this reality. One person's socialism is another's communism, but it is indisputable that all will become more controlling, intrusive and Orwellian over time. Scholars think they can set the definitions and thresholds, and that by doing this that they can protect their socialist dreams from the ultimate fate they secretly know lies at the end of the path. The opposite of collectivism is individualism, an example of which was the early United States, which adopted a culture of rugged individualism that served as a counter to the collectivism which European colonialism attempted to spread across the world. Sadly, this has been mostly destroyed in the modern USA, but there is hope it is making a comeback. Too many people get hung up on the economics of socialism vs. capitalism. That is not the real issue. Collectivism vs. individualism is the actual fight. Once you realize this, you can design economic systems, which don't need to be capitalism, that promote individualism and personal responsibility. America will never be socialist or any flavor of collectivism. There will be a 2nd civil war before that is allowed to happen.
