Nice post..for me Socialism is the idea that you can reduce misery in this world by redistributing wealth. Socialism redistributes other people’s wealth. If you give away your own wealth, it’s charity.
The idea of equality is central. People are born unequal. Therefore, to attain equality, the disadvantaged people must have preferential treatment. The costs of that must be covered by more privileged members of society.
Justice is another central tenet of Socialism. It means that wealth, or other advantages that people possess through luck, inheritance, or hard work, do not make these people more entitled to anything than other members of society.
Both justice and inequality are abstract constructs that people continuously negotiate among ourselves. Therefore, the definition of these things is fluid and always reflects interests and preferences of competing groups. The most usual definitions of Socialism, equality and justice are a compromise between the most influential groups at the moment.
Well said. It is one of the inherent problems with Socialism. Somebody has to pay.