I'm looking for a clear & simple definition, of socialism vs. Capitalism..?

Socialism: everybody working for one another

Capitalism: everybody working for a rich guy

Socialism is a social and economic system characterised by social ownership and control of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy, as well as a political theory and movement that aims at the establishment of such a system.

Capitalism is an economic system in which trade, industry, and the means of production are privately owned and operated via profit and loss calculation (price signals) through the price system. Central characteristics of capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labour and, in some situations, fully competitive markets. In a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction typically determine the prices at which they exchange assets, goods, and services.

There isn't one, because any socialist country is at least partly capitalist. The idea behind socialism is that "the commanding heights of the economy", the big industries we all need but are expensive to run so that you don't have much choice of where to buy from, should be nationalised (owned by government) so it can run them for the benefit of the people. That way you don't get exploited by monopoly owners who can charge what they like because there is no other choice of where to get your gas, electricity, telephone or whatever else it is from.

Socialists differ amongst themselves on how far to take this. In the UK under the Labour Party as it used to be with a commitment to socialism, we had nationalised gas, electricity, telephones, railways and much more, including British Airways, the steel industry, the shipbuilding industry and even car manufacturing. Those last ones are more debatable because they aren't natural monopolies, but the government nationalised them to help them out. (I say "we had" - the Conservative government in the 1980s sold them all.)

But, for example, one thing that was never nationalised was food. There is a total free market with grocery stores and supermarkets all competing on price, so you have your choice of where is cheapest or if you want to go for posh expensive food. So Labour never nationalised that because capitalism and the free market works to get everyone the best deal, or the deal they want. My local high street in a suburb of London is interesting... we have Iceland AND Waitrose. Iceland works on selling cheap for families, while Waitrose is at the "top end" of supermarkets. And I use both - Iceland is cheap, but there are things they don't do like selling loose vegetables. I often want that because I live on my own and I don't want a whole pack, I want just one onion or one carrot or whatever. I can get that at Waitrose. Now that's capitalism working properly. So why mess with it? And Labour never did. (LOL I've even convinced my mother about Iceland... quite rightly she will say that if it's cheap it probably isn't nice, and some of the frozen prepared meals Iceland sells certainly aren't, but what about eggs? An egg is an egg - and now guess where she buys eggs!)

What also tends to go with socialism is wanting to create equality, so you get social security payments to ensure that nobody is in total poverty, and maybe even government-provided housing at a cheap rent so everyone has somewhere decent to live. This is going to mean higher taxes to pay for it, and the rich paying towards helping out the poor, which capitalists will object to, but socialists say "isn't that right in a civilised society?"

And you can guarantee that a socialist government will introduce universal health care paid for out of taxes. We all need it sometime, and is it right that you should be denied treatment because you can't afford it? In pure capitalism, yes, but for socialists, no that's totally wrong. So in the UK we have the National Health Service, I have my doctor, and if I have any health worries I can go and see him and not get a bill. If I want to "go private", I can, and there are health insurance plans for that, but if I can't afford insurance the NHS is there for me.

A mistake Americans often make is to confuse socialism with communism. Communism is where the government nationalises EVERYTHING on principle. Which never works because the capitalist element isn't there - that encourages people to work.

Socialism is like a babysitter that steals from you and tells you you're to stupid to put your own pants on, when in fact they are an incompetent baby themselves. Capitalism is for people who have grown up and know how to think for themselves.

Socialism- Government owns the businesses

Capitalism- The people own the businesses.

That's as simple as I can make it.

Capitalism- Spending your money to better your life.

Socialism- Spending other people's money to better your life.

Maybe think of it this way. In a pure socialistic society, all means of production are owned and operated by the people, through government.

So, our military is our most socialistic program. It even owns and operates its own hospitals.

There would be no OBAMACARE in a socialist society. Private insurance companies would not exist. Sounds nice, actually.

If you want to avoid the technical language, Socialists vote for Capitalists to give them money, and Capitalists vote for Socialists to stop taking their money.

This might help some

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Capitalism_vs_Soc...