Why is socialism bad and capitalism good?

That is a very simplistic statement. Both capitalism and socialism have their good and bad points. And they are not in conflict - you can have capitalism and socialism at the same time, as most of Europe does. In fact, it is more a question of how much socialism you have: even the US has socialism (Medicare/medicaid).

Capitalism, when it works properly, it the most efficient system known for creating wealth. Socialism then redistributes some of that wealth so that everybody gets the benefit of that wealth.

Whether that statement is true or not depends on where you live.

both systems have their good points and both have their bad points but the common denominator is GREED, both systems have people who can not and will not get past their own greed and lust for power... perfect point is look what has happened in the U.S. and other western countries ..Capitalism ran amok with no Regulations in place to keep things on an even keel and the shit has hit the fan ( again ), Russia had the same problem when Socialism/Communism was let to its own devices and the shit hit the fan there as well, now again the commom thread was Greed/coruption by a selct amount of people ( 3% to 4% ) of the total population screwed it for the rest

well, with socialism the importance of the work you do does not count for the salary you get.

Well, there is actually a combination of the two in America. If there was "pure" capitalism, you wouldn't have public libraries, freeways and county hospitals.

Is it......? Really?

Because socialism assumes that people are basically good and, given the choice, will sacrifice of themselves to help other people. Capitalism is not perfect, but it forces people to consider others. If a capitalism system is working properly, then it is in your best interests as a business person to do what is best for your customers. That gets you the most money and prestige. Now, this assumes you have a true free market, where people can readily abandon your company for another if you try to gouge them for money, or offer shoddy products. It also assumes that people have some legal recourse should a business knowingly mislead, harm or cheat them. It also gives people an incentive to work hard, as what they work for goes to benefit them and their families and they can be fired for poor work.

Socialism relies on government officials (who, after all, are only people an no more immune to greed and idiocy than business people) to distribute goods to everyone. It offers little incentives to people to work hard, since they can't keep what they work for, and since they often end up with job security for life they have no reason to work. People in socialist societies tend to view it as the government's responsibility to provide them with a job. In response, the government creates a lot of useless make-work jobs. (I know whereof I speak: I've lived in an openly socialist country for 10 years now, and it's BAD. You go into a store and there are twice as many workers as there need to be, and not one of them is willing to help you. It's no one's job).

In pure form both are bad as with most "isms".

I don't know what makes you say this. Today most European countries have socialism and capitalism all together. Which is good and which is bad is hard to say. As Ideas they both seem fine and logical, but neither of them actually works.

May be you mean communism as 'bad'. Which was beautiful utopian idea, but didn't go that well in reality in the Soviet Union.

For me, all of the above are utopias to an extend. In communism everything was state owned. In capitalism everything is bank owned - your house, your car your sofa is property of the bank, not yours.

The difference is that in communism the government kept you in the dark through fear and restrain of free speech, in capitalism by subjective media promoting ' the American dream". Different means, same result.

O.k. We have a free speech, but people rarely have anything important to say, except maybe to say that we have a 'free speech' and 'free something'.

Socialism would be great if this were heaven and everyone were holy. It looks good on paper. But in practice it usually means a very small group of very powerful people becoming very rich by taking everything the less powerful have. I know you are probably thinking that sounds just like capitalism, but if you remember the old Iron Curtain countries, people had to stand in line for hours just to get one loaf of bread to feed their families. In many of those countries, they weren't griping about health care, they were starving.

I know you have probably been taught an academic definition that draws a line between socialism and communism. In practice, it really isn't there. Just because some professor comes up with a definition to say that "ours isn't really the same as theirs" that doesn't mean they are telling the truth. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its probably a duck.

Capitalism is like living on the "wild side" while socialism is taking the "easy way". So to speak. The first two answers explain much better though...lol.

in an ideal world socialism would be great. Countries like Denmark and other countries in Europe have put socialism and Capitalism together. My friend goes there every year and he talks about how much better it is there. they pay high taxes but with that they go free to college, free health care and many other things. On Forbes the 10 happiest countries are almost all in Europe and have socialism and capitalism together. Communism is not socialism and it is way to extreme!!! The problem with the US is the People that run the government are all rich and don't care about going to socialism. Thats why they set up health care. they are setting it up to fail to then say that socialism and healthcare is bad. AND PEOPLE STOP WATCHING FOX NEWS AND EVERYTHING ON TV DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC. IF YOU THINK JFK WATCH SHOT BY LEE HARVEY OSWALD BECAUSE THATS WHAT THE NEWS SAID YOU ARE SOOO IGNORANT. THREE SHOTS IN SIX SECONDS WITH A BOLT ACTION AT A MOVING TARGET. EVEN A NAVY SEAL TODAY I SAW COULDN'T PULL THAT OFF. SOCIALISM IS GOOD WHEN THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY AND THEY ACTUALLY USE IT FOR GOOD THINGS!!