I just wish...

...that when people on this board talk about socialism, they would make it clear what iteration of "socialism" they are talking about. The type of "socialism"--i.e., liberal capitalism--that exists in Europe has effectively nothing in common with original socialism, which I support. I get the impression that original socialism is by far the least understood of all the myriad systems given the "socialist" appellation, probably because is has never been tried. But the original conception of socialism as formulated by Marx and Engels has nothing to do with the various types of "socialism" (e.g., the variations of Leninism, social democracy) that have been practiced throughout the 20th century up to the present. It amazes me that so many intelligent people with a good knowledge of history are unaware of the differences.

And if Scandanavia wanted the same breed of capitalism that the United States has, they would have to give up many social programs that take the bite out of all the problems that capitalism causes, and I have yet to see any European nation were the majority of people want heavily unregulated, compassionless capitalism as opposed to the social democratic version of capitalism that they have and enjoy.