Sounds Good, Doesn't Work - Socialism

There's a difference between socialism and a mixed economy.

A mixed economy is still a captialist nation, but it has social programs (i.e. welfare, public housing, etc.) for the benefit of it's citizens. Nearly every modern capitalist nation is mixed to a degree, from the US (where roads, police, and fire services are provided) to the Nordic nations where most basic amenities are provided by the state.

Socialism, on the other hand, is entirely different. It's end goal is to get rid of private ownership of the means of production through government means, in order to establish an equal society. This is different from communism in the fact that it seeks it through relatively peaceful government intervention rather than revolution and purging.

Venuzuela was socialist, as it attempted to nationalize many industries to be owned by the state/"the people", causing capital flight followed by oil dependence.

I find it interesting how many people seem to get those two mixed up. I’m pretty sure even i was guilty of that at some point. I think, and don’t quote me on this, it’s mostly just that Europe and America have very different views on what constitutes socialism. Kind of like how liberal means something completely different in america than it does in europe.