Why did socialists consider private property a social evil?

Correct answer: Because owners earned private profit from workers' labour

Socialists objected to private ownership of the main means of production because it allowed a small group of owners to control factories, land, and other resources. Workers, who usually lacked such property, had to work for wages. Owners could then claim the surplus or profit produced through that labour. Socialists saw this arrangement as a source of exploitation, inequality, and conflict between classes, rather than as a system that benefited everyone equally.

Option A is correct because it connects private property with owners’ private profit from workers’ labour. Option B is the opposite of the socialist criticism: workers did not automatically become equal owners. Option C is incorrect because socialists believed private property helped preserve class divisions, not remove them. Option D is unrelated. The question focuses on ownership, control of production, and the unequal distribution of the value created by labour.