If someone chooses to take all their hopes for a better and more just society and bundle it up in the name of “socialism,” then any criticism of “socialism” will be viewed as an attack on their dreams and desires. Conversely, pretty much no one ever has said that “capitalism is the name of my desire.” The arguments for capitalism are typically made in terms of machine-like functionality, emphasizing what works and doesn’t work under capitalism. And of course, the arguments for capitalism emphasize how it has actually raised the standard of living for average people over recent decades and centuries, not how it summarizes one’s dreams for the future.

Timothy Taylor, Socialism is the Name of Our Desire, in Conversable Economist