Socialist ideas predate Marx. Look up Robert Owen for example. Engels talks about earlier socialist philosophies in “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific”. It’s not a very long book and it’s an interesting read. I think it’s an extract from a longer work.

Often conflated but Marx and Engels themselves draw a distinction between socialism and communism. They consider socialism a stepping stone to communism.

As I say, liberals believe in capitalism by definition. The impact of your vote once every few years in an election under this system pales in comparison to the influence that the owner class have due to their wealth and power. This is fundamental. This is why you get all the anti-liberal sentiment from anti-capitalists.

Furthermore you talk about convincing some percentage of voters in order to change the system. The early turnout figure for this election is 54% and that’s considered high… What of the non voters?

There may be a gap here in the definition of “liberal”. Liberalism is a political philosophy that also encompasses most traditional conservatives. It is different from the colloquial usage. It’s loosely defined as the belief in individual freedoms, including the right to private property. It is inherently capitalist and therefore socialists, communists and anarchists generally do not consider them to be of the left.

I think you’re jumping the gun a bit. They’re just saying that requiring a phone number added a barrier against spammers and they want to be sure this change doesn’t open the flood gates.

From the article:

"We gotta figure out some way to induce a cost for signing up without a phone number”, Kret said.

It’s unclear whether this means that registration without a phone number will become a paid feature.

However, “cost” does not necessarily mean a monetary fee; it could also refer to another barrier designed to prevent abuse.