"Capitalism" and "socialism"—what do these words even mean? You could just say that capitalism is the economic system of countries like the United States, and socialism is the economic system of countries like the former Soviet Union. In that case, I'd say that capitalism is at least ok, while socialism is hell on earth.
Perhaps my opponent would even agree! It's more fruitful, though, to treat capitalism and socialism as positions on the ideal economic system. Something like: the capitalist ideal is that government play a very small role in the economy—and the socialist ideal is that government plays the leading role in the economy. In that case, I say that capitalism is awesome, and socialism is terrible.
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