That being said, I absolutely do not agree with communism or socialism for the most part. Any questions? Just go to Ireland. It's a failed 'western' socialist state, and would make any hard working American sick to see the level of goverment handouts that take place.
That 'failed state' has a significantly higher standard of living and HDI that the U.S. does - even forgetting for a second that the HDI figures for the U.S. are highly inflated for the vast majority of the people given that the income distribution here resembles Brazil or Argentina more than any first world country. It's also worth mention that about 20 other countries - each with a higher level of government property ownership and economic involvement have a higher HDI than the U.S.
By the way, the World Health Organization ranks the U.S.A. #38 out of the world's nations in terms of its quality of health-care. So much for the bizarre neo-con fiction about American purportedly having 'the best health-care in the world' (what a f#!@ing joke!).
