Why is socialism failing in Europe?
Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good.” — Ayn Rand
Technically, socialism is where the government owns and operates the means of production. In a truly socialist system, there is little prosperity because nobody has an incentive to work hard, or to take risks in bringing new products to market, or improve existing products. Many capitalist societies, like the USA, England, Canada and others have various social programs that can loosely be called socialist, like public education, public roadways, unemployment unsurance, welfare, national health insurance, etc. There is a cost to these things (in taxes), but it can be argued with some merit that they all help people prosper more than they hurt. It can also be argued with some merit that it is a form of theft to take from the very rich to provide these services to everybody. Then again, it can also be argued with some merit that in a democratic society, the rules are collectively voted upon by all people and so represent a consensus of the majority. Which is preferable to the alternative
