In your own words: What is Socialism?

a boogeyman used to scare people into campaigning against things that are in their own best interests....i.e. public option health care

Socialism is a system that believes that the more you have the more you should give , it is a step back from Communism .

In other words :

Capitalism :The more cows you have , the easier it gets to get more , favors the rich by making the rich richer.

Socialism:You have two cows , the government takes away 1 and let's you keep one .

Communism:You have two cows , the government takes away the cows and gives you enough milk to live.

Contrary to Communism under socialism you can own stuff , but it is tough to own too much , socialism favors the poor by allowing the poor to pay less and they get more help to stay afloat , were the rich get's taxed to keep help the poor. (in theory of course)

Socialism favors (usually) the environment at the cost of hurting production and companies .

USA has a mix of Socialism and Capitalism , this is why we have welfare , unemployment , medicare and other social programs were your taxes help other people less fortunate.

For example if you decide not to have kids , then the government taxes you more , if you in the other hand have kids then the government taxes you less , fair ? well it is up to the individual to decide.

Like in any system there is radical Socialism (like in Venezuela) and light Socialism (like the one we have in the USA) having a good balance prevents complete starvation and extreme poverty, but too much and it will scare away investment and jobs .

It is a delicate thing indeed :)

Edit:What makes a person a socialist :someone that supports a system by voting , voicing or practicing on some Socialist party.

Higher taxes, and higher social programs, also known as "tax and spend."

Basically, the levels of income tax are higher than for other forms of governmetn, especially for the wealthy, and businesses. But, there are higher levels of payouts for programs like welfare, medical insurance, education, even including university, and so on.

Traditionally, at least in Canada and the UK, labour unions are supports of socialist parties (the New Democratic Party in Canada, and Labour in the UK). "Big business" tends to support more right-wing parties, although these are broad generalizations, and do not always hold true.

There are places more socialist than others. The Soviet Union was communist, although they called themselves socialist. Communism is a very advanced form of socialism. OTOH, the Labour party in the UK, while still socialist, has a lot of traditionally right wing ideas.

A socialist is someone who embraces this idea. There are not many of them in the US, but lots in Canada. They have never had power Federally, but many provinces have elected NDP (Socialist) governments.

Where the government owns everything and gives you no choice in what you buy.

Definition: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

"What makes a person Socialist?" A person is socialist if they support socialism.

That means you work for the government and they choose what you do how you do it and how much money you make.

"Highways, parks, schools, military, airways, ballparks etc." This is idiocy, every country has a military and our schools are failing, highways are run by the state not the federal government, and anything built with public money doesn't make it a socialist institution if it is run by the government it's a socialist institution.

Right now and relevant to current affairs? hmmm, forcing government run healthcare down the throats of all Americans. A Socialist: one who forces the government run healthcare down the throats of all Americans. We have lost a freedom in this country ,as the House passes government run healthcare. How many more freedoms will these pretenders of democracy steal from us before they are gone and will we ever be able to restore what they have stollen?

Socialism: the government owns the means of production (farms, factories, what have you), the people work the means, and the government distributes the ends equally among the citizenry and provide any other needs (like medicine).

Basically, the government is God.

Socialism=Barack Obama

Socialism is the idea that everyone is to benefit from those who succeed whether you deserve it or not.

A person who would make sure I lose what I earn to make sure those who are not as fortunate are just as prosperous as myself. Thats socialism

I see Socialism as taking money and other resources from one individual and handing it out to another individual.

Supposedly Socialism tries to create equality but there will always be someone at the top and someone at the bottom. I don't see Obama handing out his money, he is handing out OUR money.

Socialism is control by the State in my opinion. The more control the State has over your life, the less freedom you have.

Our country was founded upon freedom. It was worth fighting for then. It is worth fighting for now.