Most people have a poor understanding of communism, mainly because Western politicians and the media purposely lie about its meaning to confuse and scare their populations for political support and foreign policy goals. Historically this was largely driven by private business interests and the wealthy, which would lose their power and their functions entirely in a fully-communist system; but proponents of socialism and communism are partly to blame especially after the end of the Cold War, as they have often been poor spokespeople for these systems. Social conservatives are also to blame, as they are driven by fear of new ideas and change and tend to associate novelty and change with nefarious conspiracies.