Shared Laughs w/ a Republican

Speaking of people dying, socialism and communism did wonders for the poor in the 20th century. Famine killed 20 million in Russia and 30 million in China because of a lack of private industry and competition.

"Socialism" coming out of Stalin's mouth had about as much authenticity as "Democracy" coming out of Bush's. Or do you take it as an article of faith that everything that comes out of a dictator's mouth is the Gospel truth? Every system of power employs a noble purpose to justify its rule. And the fact is, "socialism" is a purpose that has wide appeal in most of the world. The fact that many systems continue to exploit it as a concept--e.g., China--tells us zero about how the system is actually run.

Sort of like "capitalism" here, as you've already pointed out--capitalism with a huge public sector which interferes with markets on behalf of investors, subsidizes the wealthy, precludes competition, etc. The reason you can't "get rid of the inefficient government" is because "the capitalists" rely on it for survival. Good luck trying to raise that issue at the Republican convention.