I read many other forums and sites, and reddit is one I enjoy to read from time to time. I thought this was a pretty good post with some very good view points from various individuals.. just thought I would share.
The actual link to the original post:
http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikei...it_considered/
The main post is this:
Quote: The thing to understand about "socialism" is that it doesn't exist as a discrete entity. It exists as a part of the same spectrum as capitalism, a sliding scale of economics delineating who earns and spends money in a particular economic system. Every state in the world today exists somewhere on that continuum; there is no such thing as a purely capitalist or purely socialist state. Furthermore, neither such system would be particularly desirable; each is subject to various flaws and pitfalls, and a healthy, robust economy must be constructed from elements of each. Generally states are identified as one or the other dependent on which side of the continuum they skew towards; European governments tend towards broadly socialist policies, while the USA is regarded as being primarily capitalistic. The important thing to remember, however, is that they are all mixed-market economies.
You also have to distinguish the capitalist/socialist continuum from political constructions such as democracy and communism. They are separate entities, and not mutually exclusive. A democracy can be primarily socialist, and a communist government can be capitalistic. The aforementioned European democracies typify the former, while China makes a reasonable example of the latter.
I'm assuming you're an American, based on the "why is it considered bad" element of your question. (For the record ... me too! How about that mutual nationalistic pride, eh?) The explanation for why socialism is considered bad in the States goes a long way back and has quite a few twists and turns, but the essence of it is this: history.
We began to identify ourselves as a nation of self-starters, achievers, and do-it-yourselfers when we rebelled from the Crown, and formed an independently-minded attitude that psychologically tends towards the capitalist side of the equation. We had a number of struggles back and forth across the spectrum throughout the years -- various efforts at creating a Central Bank represent some of the starkest movements, I would say -- but much of the root of it lays in the fallout from World War 2. With the Communists identified as our primary competitors in the world of super powers, socialism became a dirty word. Supporting policies that gave the government control over some social good or product meant you were a dirty red Commie, whether or not the evidence showed that such a good in the hands of capitalists was an ideal scenario.
So at this point it's been pretty much internalized into a kind of national hysteria. I think fairly few people (relatively speaking) have any real understanding of the issue at hand. They know that "capitalism = good, socialism = bad," while they enthusiastically drive on roads, enjoy the protection of police and fire fighters, and consume public utilities like water. They decry government incompetence while corporations gouge them with non-competitive prices. I'm not here to say socialist policies are always the better option, but it does make a very interesting case study; American aversion to proven effective socialist policies while embracing actively and provably destructive policies on the basis of "capitalist merit."
Source: degrees in political science and international relations.
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You can see the other users comments.. I found it interesting, and liked what others had to say on this subject.
Explain like I'm five.. What is 'a socialist' and why is it considered bad?
