Why is socialism bad?

[Pineapple]

All I hear from people is how socialism is "evil" and "terrible". I usually hear this from people that think Capitalism is THE BEST THING EVAAAA.

Can anyone explain the pros and cons of socialism for me please? I'm in the ninth grade and don't have quite a huge grasp on politics yet, but it seems like most of the people that completely shut it out don't really know what they're talking about.

[Whitney]

Someone I know recently posted the following on facebook:

SOCIALISM IS BAD

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.

After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

And then I log on to the internet — which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration — and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.

— (source unknown)

[Pineapple]

I don't think that person really knows what they're talking about.

I think they're more against large government, not socialism.

Which brings me back to the whole "Doesn't know what they're talking about" thing.

[Whitney]

I don't think that person really knows what they're talking about.

I think they're more against large government, not socialism.

Which brings me back to the whole "Doesn't know what they're talking about" thing.

It was meant to be sarcastic.

[Pineapple]

I don't think that person really knows what they're talking about.

I think they're more against large government, not socialism.

Which brings me back to the whole "Doesn't know what they're talking about" thing.

It was meant to be sarcastic.

Oh, it made me laugh, but I thought it was serious. I live in an area where there are a lot of people like that.

[AlP]

One of the things I found unusual when I moved to the US was the prevailing attitude towards socialism. For example, Obama being accused of socialism is something I often read here. I think it might have something to do with its association with communism and the cold war. Thought anyone? Anyway, socialism isn't all or nothing. A lot of Western European democratic countries have more socialist leanings than the US. Free health care is good. I really miss that. I liked my free university education. Actually it was better than free. The state gave me money to go to university. That has since changed unfortunately. But I got the best of both worlds. Free education in the UK then high income (at the expense of less fortunate people) in the US.

[Will]

That's correct, calling someone a socialist is playing on now outdated cold war fears, a guilt by association fallacy. In fact, no governmental or economic system is inherently bad, not even an authoritarian dictatorship. People make a system good or bad.

[skurry]

Isn't socialism essentially communism? Communism is supposed to be power to the people, but it seems to me it's power to the government. They control every aspect of your life, essentially slavery. No one has any ambition to get ahead because everyone makes the same wages.

These are my perceptions, I don't actually know what I am talking about... too young for the Cold War.

[MrWizard]

The reason Socialism is bad, is because it does not work. Socialism requires there be no people in power who have their own agendas.

We as a species are far to young for the Star Trek-like Socialist society.

[curiosityandthecat]

Well, duh, I know why socialism is bad: because I've heard people use the words "socialism" and "Obama" in the same sentence and he's the devil, so it must be bad! I mean, if you're socialist it means you're communist and if you're communist it means you want to destroy America and kill babies and be Russian or Chinese or something, right?

Isn't socialism essentially communism? Communism is supposed to be power to the people, but it seems to me it's power to the government. They control every aspect of your life, essentially slavery. No one has any ambition to get ahead because everyone makes the same wages.

These are my perceptions, I don't actually know what I am talking about... too young for the Cold War.

If Socialism and Communism were the same thing, they wouldn't be called two different things. There's a number of reasons why Communism never works in the real world (ever heard the phrase "Communism and roommates"?), the most detrimental of which being that it is inherently opposed to a universal aspect of human nature: greed. Communism is, at its core, an economic model. It's when it's used as a social control mechanism that it gets a bad name. Read up on some Marxism and you'll see. It's actually not such a bad thing; people just screw it up.

[Tanker]

There is nothing inheretly wrong with socialism, in fact I believe many of the ideals of socialism to be supior to capitolism. The problem with achieving any idal is that people are not ideal. Without ideal people complete socialism will breakdown. Having socalist princaple will not really harm a strong democracy in fact a meshing of the two can be a better system ie;unions. Most people In the U.S don't really understand how any form of communism really works. Most have this inherited fear and disgust of communism left over from the cold war. a systemof government cannot be bad or good it's people however can and they will dictate how the system will work.

[Tom62]

Socialism has its good and bad points. The same counts for capitalism. It is the right mixture of both systems that would work out best for us. For example: socialism tends to overprotect people, while capitalism tends to do the exact opposite. If we move our systems a bit more to the middle then we could have a society that could take proper care of the poor, the helpless and the sick; that respects the environment; where people have a decent income, retirement and can rely on an affordable healthcare system, without reducing the individual rights of every person or creating huge state-run conglomerates.

[Heretical Rants]

I would not want to live in a socialist society. There would be no hopes or dreams, no higher aspirations: hard work is not rewarded. You wouldn't own anything, even yourself.

Everyone is a slave to society.

This is even without greedy dictators/whatever.

The main argument I hear:
In all of the Communist states I know of, those in power abused that power. If you take away private property, then someone needs to manage the public property to keep the looters out... but those who take on that responsibility are also looters. Socialism/communism doesn't work because people are greedy.

I don't like this argument because the system is bad, even if it somehow had benevolent leadership.


The milder forms of 'socialism' currently in the west are infinitely better. ((Forced charity from which most people benefit)^1000000)/dx) < (slave driving)^-1000000.

[Tom62]

That reminds me of a very old joke.

Q: What is the difference between capitalism and socialism?
A: Capitalism make social mistakes. Socialism however makes capital mistakes.

[Ninteen45]

*Rimshot*

Anyway, The main proper complaint I've heard is that the waiting is "Too long, a mean, ya seen dem english teef, dey have ta wait fa six months for a dentist, a dun't want no teef like dem."

Honestly I think is may mess up such a country like USA with their population and current money problems.

Wait and see...