though
i think one thing lacking from this is that socialism and democracy are not contradictory to each other ideologically. if i'm not mistaken, socialism is an _economic_ model, whereas democracy is a _decisionmaking_ one, and as such, should all the people in a democracy/republic convene and decide that the wealth should be spread out, thats both socialist and democratic.
and we see that in the socialization of America. arguably, you can say most developed nations _are_ socialist to a certain extent, not just china 'nam, canada, et al.
just sayin.