What is the difference between capitalism and socialism?
Chris C asked:
And why are so many Americans frightened of anything that smacks of socialism?
I thought communism was about giving money to those who do the work. Isn’t that why they have the hammer and sickle on the flags of the ex Soviet Union?
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Capitalism is all about capital, or money. Socialism is more the social idea, sort of like what Obama is doing with all the health care and welfare stuff. Capitalism is more of survival of the richest, while socialism is survival of all. Capitalists are against paying taxes that go to improving the standard of living and decreasing poverty rates. My history teacher, a capitalist, once put it this way: If I was rewarded an ice cream cone for answering a certain amount of questions my teacher asked and you’re craving one, I’m not willing to share my prize.
Socialism considers adversity and all the unfortunate ones in life. It is against the whole classes idea. It supports taxes and other ideas that benefit society as a whole, not just one class.
I think based on all the above information, you can figure out an answer to your second question.
Socialism is about taking money from people who worked for it and giving it to lazy people who didn’t work.
Capitalism is about letting people keep the money they worked for, and they can donate it to the poor when they want to.
Capitalism allows economic decisions to be made by millions of people acting in their own interests. Socialism allows decisions to be made by the state based on political considerations. Why are they frightened? Because they value personal liberty and understand that ceding it to the state is a one way street.