So, what's wrong with socialism?

[Rapscallion]

I'm interested in this. I've heard from the keyboards and lips of several citizens of the US that socialism is bad, as in really bad. What I'd like to know is why that is the case. Is there something fundamentally wrong with it, or is it just a hang-over from the cold war when anything associated with the communist ideology (socialism is sort-of communism light) is to be spat upon and shunned.

Any explanations? Preferably ones that make sense.

Rapscallion

[FArchivist]

To the average American, there is absolutely no difference between Communism and Socialism. The fight against socialism is due to the influence of prosperity gospel, the relentless influence of the John Birch Society on conservative politics, and the gradual adherence of conservative politics to libertarian-style free market fundamentalism (usually with a flavor of "This is what Jesus would want!") as promoted by the Austrian school.

[BlaqueKatt]

Any explanations? Preferably ones that make sense.

Rapscallion

this is an easy one, people don't understand what democratic socialism is, which does work(medicaid, local water utilities, police and fire, etc.), they instead fall for the strawman of this "story" that's been making the rounds in fifty billion emails(seriously I've gotten it four times)

An economics professor once said he had never failed a single
student, but had once failed an entire class.

The class (students) insisted that socialism worked since no one would be
poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said,
"OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism."

"All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so
no one will fail and no one will receive an A."

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The
students who had studied hard were upset while the students who had
studied very little were happy.

But, as the second test rolled around, the students who had studied little
studied even less and the ones who had studied hard decided that since
they couldn't make an A, they also studied less. The second Test average
was a D.

No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average grade was an
F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling, all resulted
in hard feelings and no one would study for anyone else.

To their great surprise all failed. The professor told them that socialism
would ultimately fail because the harder people try to succeed the greater
their reward (capitalism) but when a government takes all the reward
away (socialism) no one will try or succeed.

[Cheshire]

Socialism, while it looks superb on paper, it flawed when the main ingredient, people, is added in.

Everyone working to improve society by doing their best at their job. That could work, if it wasn't for the selfish and lazy attributes people are imbued with. It assumes that everyone would be happy with their jobs and contribute the same amount of high quality work, never wanting more than what they are allotted.

It is a stagnant system however. In reality, the lazy would gain just as much as the harder workers, while those who work hard will be limited by those who don't work to their level.

Capitalism is far superior because of that. Those who work hard generally become well off, while those who don't are stuck with the lower jobs and pay.

Unfortunately, the flaw with capitalism is that those who rise to the top are easily able to keep others from rising as well, keeping the wealth and status to themselves.

[Rageaholic]

In a philosophy course I took, I heard that socialism is what happens when communism is implemented. Communism is the idea that everyone gets wealth according to need, but it has never been applied fairly because people lie, steal, and cheat. The result is socialism, where the government has control over all infastructure. Taken to an extreme, you get a dictatorship; where those horror stories about police states come from. And when all you know about communism or socialism is that, it's a pretty scary word.

[Andara Bledin]

Socialism is also a political boogieman, used to scare voters into line because people, on the whole, are ignorant sheep bleating their way through life without even trying to figure out how the world around them works.

I've challenged a couple of co-workers to explain to me what so evil about socialist programs, and they've yet to come up with an argument that wasn't parroting some talking point that more often than not was a pack of lies not even dressed up to look respectable.

Then I point out the socialist programs they themselves benefit from, and it's all, "well that's not the same thing."

^-.-^

[Kheldarson]

And don't forget the history of the American Dream.

Which, of course, started as "Brand new land, brand new start, keep the hell away government" and has now evolved to "Keeping up with the Joneses" and "Somebody else can fix my problems!". >.< But we still believe in the first American Dream. So conflict.

[KabeRinnaul]

On the whole, Americans associate socialism with Stalinism.

For those who actually understand either idea... Chesire basically has it covered. All economic systems work on paper. Introduce people and they pretty much inevitably break down.

[HYHYBT]

Pure anything is a mess. But then, we don't *have* pure anything

[Daskinor]

The short answer is, most Americans don't even know why. For most its simply a label to rally against. They honestly have no idea what socialism truly means, and when asked generally describe Communism like in BlaqueKatt's example.

However its odd because those same people tend to like the idea of a Plutocracy, or a Theocracy. Even if they have no idea that they do, or what the ramifications of those ideas are.

[Hyena Dandy]

Most people in the US have no idea what Socialism is or why its bad. And that disgusts me. There are legitimate problems with socialism, as there are legitimate problems with any system.

[Greenday]

I can answer this in three words: It's MY money!

Slightly longer version: No one wants to give up the money they earned to help support others. The "Why should some lazy bum benefit from my work?" argument comes in.

[Kheldarson]

And for those of us who are willing to help out others and donate time, money, and items, we don't want to be told who, when, where, and how by the government.

[Mytical]

I am one of those 'odd ball' Americans. I like some of the concepts of socialism, I believe education, medicine, shelter, and food should be provided for people. I think that the disabled, elderly (that can't take care of themselves), and ill should be taken care of. However, I do think that if you can work, you SHOULD work. Which is why though I qualify for disability, I am still working.

People unfortunately have/do/will continue to scam the system, and that is the biggest problem. Right there. The ones who NEED help get messed with by those who just want to sit doing nothing when there is nothing wrong with them.

Another thing is for some reason Socialism is equated with 'big brother' ie 'freedoms'/'rights' etc are believed to become less in Socialism. Which angers a lot of Americans.

[FArchivist]

Socialism, while it looks superb on paper, it flawed when the main ingredient, people, is added in.

Everyone working to improve society by doing their best at their job. That could work, if it wasn't for the selfish and lazy attributes people are imbued with. It assumes that everyone would be happy with their jobs and contribute the same amount of high quality work, never wanting more than what they are allotted.

Bwah? That isn't socialism at all. You have confused Socialism with Communism.

Socialism refers to a set of related socio-economic systems and ideologies that seek to bring about equality in society. The vast majority of present-day socialists believe this would be best done by transferring ownership of the means of production and distribution (e.g., factories and railroads) to the working class.

This has nothing to do with everyone working to improve society by doing their best at their job or being satisfied with what they are allotted.

In a philosophy course I took, I heard that socialism is what happens when communism is implemented. Communism is the idea that everyone gets wealth according to need, but it has never been applied fairly because people lie, steal, and cheat. The result is socialism, where the government has control over all infastructure. Taken to an extreme, you get a dictatorship; where those horror stories about police states come from. And when all you know about communism or socialism is that, it's a pretty scary word.

Again, this is incorrect. Socialism and Communism are not the same thing. Communism is an EXTREME variant of socialism and one which the majority of all socialists in the world think is exceedingly unachievable. When communism is implemented, the result is NOT socialism. The result is the creation of a classless and stateless society, a utopia. In regular socialism, utopia is not the end result.