Bingo. Too many people equate socialism with safety nets and draw the wrong conclusions from either. Socialism traditionally means that the state - composed of

Bingo. Too many people equate socialism with safety nets and draw the wrong conclusions from either. Socialism traditionally means that the state - composed of the people, one assumes - owns the means of production. This does not mean that safety nets are assured or can even be sustained if the profits are insufficient. A safety net can exist independent of government control/ownership of industry. Just take a bit out of everybody's paycheck and BAM! Universal healthcare. It is clear to anyone with a basic understanding of economics and history that the private market allocates resources more efficiently and creates more wealth than central planning. There are times that the government steps in to fix market failures or areas without sufficient private investment (acid rain regulations and the interstate highway system), but that doesn't mean letting the government step in is an inevitable path towards Leninism. It simply makes more sense to tax the profits of the private sector than to step in, say you can do it better, and route the profits directly to the social safety net without cannibalizing the business in the first place.