Question

Why were socialist against private property and saw it as the route of all social ills

Answer 1

Socialists were against private property ,  and saw it as a root cause of all social ill of the time .  Individuals  owned  the property that gave employment but the propertied were concerned only with personal gain and not with the welfare of those who made the property productive . So if society  as a whole rather than single individuals controlled property , more attention would be paid to collective  social  interest  .