From Libertarian Wiki

Socialism is an ideology with the core belief that society should exist in which popular collectives control the means of power and production, and the ownership of private property is severely limited. In Marxist theory, it also refers to the society that would succeed or supplant capitalism, and would later develop further into communism, as the necessity for the socialist structure would wither away. Marxism and communism are both branches of socialism. Socialism is an ideological enemy of libertarianism.

As an economic theory, socialism calls for redistribution of wealth through taxation of privately earned wealth coupled with nationalization and government ownership of property without compensation to owners and earners. Socialism being based on the expropriation of wealth, it stresses the privileges of groups over the rights of individuals. As a result of these collectivist tenets, socialistic policies directly and intentionally impede on the business person's right to run their business as they want (small business represents 99% of US employers).

Socialistic policies invariably lead to reduced competition which means less freedom of choice for the buyer because there's less variety of products, the worker because there's less employers to choose from and you have no choice but to join the union if you're hired, and the citizen because the government is now the sole provider of semi-essential services not to mention healthcare and education. Add to this a decrease in the quality of goods and services now at higher prices.

These are the socio-economic policies that generally reflect the preferences of the socialist:

• The growth of organized labor

• Many laws regulating how businesses operate

• Increased government control of the market

• Increased protectionism

• Decreased globalization

• The public ownership, management and delivery of semi-essential services

• The public ownership, management and delivery of healthcare services

• Taxpayer-funded healthcare

• The public ownership, management and delivery of educational services

• Taxpayer-funded education

• Cheap post-secondary education

• A broader and more generous social safety net

• More public assistance for anyone deemed to need help

• More public services for anyone deemed to need help

• High taxes

• Progressive taxation