I see, so your source of information is your friends who by nature of being your friends probably have similar ideas to yours - most of the time this is the case.
Do you have more credible sources of information? I am not an expert in political science but everything I can find on the subject suggests that Socialism is a way-point between Capitalism and Communism and that the vast majority of formerly Socialist countries are turning toward Capitalism given the world wide failure of the former.
On a more general note, do you understand that Socialism is really a euphemism for collective theft? Socialist programs are income redistribution by definition, they take what one man has earned away from him and give it to another. This is morally wrong.
Now I have no problem with taxation for the purpose of infrastructure we all use and I would even be willing to accept some modest forms of Government assistance, but when we get to the point where hard working people are expected to pay the way for lazy criminals I think that is going too far.
In America we already pay the way for lazy crack heads and it disgusts me. To add insult to injury, many of the people earning the money have to take drug tests to keep their job. They have to take drug tests to earn the money but the people who receive the money don't have to take drug tests to get it. Is that your idea of fairness?
More credible sources than citizens of these "other countries" themselves? I'm afraid anyone would be hard-pressed to find such a mythical creature. Do you consider yourself to be more informed about current events in America than say, someone who lives in Egypt? Why is that, again? Oh right, because you are LIVING those current events as they happen. I think you'd be surprised to find that I don't base my friendships on what political views a person holds, as most other rational people would agree is a sorry excuse for alienating yourself from society. Differences in opinion actually cultivate healthy interpersonal relationships. What kind of person wants to be surrounded with people who are exactly like themselves? Someone with a very negative self-image who needs a lot of reassurance, that's who.
It's quite obvious that you aren't an expert in anything related to politics. There are many sources you could refer to in order to ascertain the true differences between "socialism" as it applies to Marxist-Leninist theories of government and "socialism" as a social philosophy. Problem is, none of these sources are GOP-backed or considered "fair and balanced mainstream American news media". It would involve actually picking up a book and READING the information contained inside, then making a rational, informed decision on your own. These are all things you appear to be unable or unwilling to do, for whatever reason.
Redistribution of wealth is not a euphemism for collective theft. It is not about taking away the money someone has earned and giving it someone who has NOT earned it. it's about giving EACH PERSON their FAIR SHARE of the fruits of THEIR OWN labor. It's about encouraging everyone to contribute EQUALLY to society, in order to better society AS A WHOLE instead of lining the pockets of a small class of "elites" at the expense of the working class. If you don't contribute, you don't get that fair share - you get a helping of whatever scraps are leftover so you can merely survive until you put yourself back into the game to EARN your fair share.
You realize that if we had a single payer, universal health coverage system that the only people who would be getting this "free ride" are the people who are ALREADY getting a "free ride" under the current system? The difference is, under a universal, single-payer system those "free rides" would actually be PAID for instead of being considered "unpaid losses" which are then tacked on the cost of care for everyone else. The current system actually causes hospitals and doctors to LOSE money, because they are forced to care for the uninsured and simply "eat the loss", which means the average insurance policy holder pays more in order to recover those losses.
EDIT: I think if you did some actual research into the histories of these countries you claim are turning towards capitalism, you'll find most of them aren't and have never been considered "socialist states" in the first place, and the ones that are or have been still have a steaming serving of socialism to go with their capitalism.
