[user104658]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

he is supporting a society/system that creates incredible wealth for the few and very little for the many whilst paying lipservice to a system that supports neither?

surely as a socialist he should be fighting to end capitalism not supporting it?


I guess there is no such thing as being a socialist its just a state of mind when it suits?

ie go on a demo to fight poverty one day and buy a £3000 mountain bike the next, that type of thing

Again I don't see it as an either-or situation; it's perfectly possible to be generally supportive of capitalism whilst also believing that a good, fair and well-functioning capitalist society can have certain socialist policies (such as universal healthcare, wealth redistribution to low incomes (e.g. tax credits), social housing, free or subsidised higher education, possibly even universal healthcare).

TBH that's the space I pretty much occupy these days. I fully accept that with the world being as it is, capitalism is the ONLY functional model. It isn't amazing, but it's functional. But I also don't believe it should be an outright free-for-all and I strongly believe in some of the things mentioned above (especially healthcare and education).

That said; I don't know how Sheeran actually describes himself... has he outright stated that he is "a socialist" or is that just an assumption based on his being in clear support of some socially minded policies?

Again for the latter part (the mountain bike example) you're really describing communist ideology more than socialism.