Quote Originally Posted by Bearinabox View Post
Or maybe because Evil Socialist Big Government helps keep cities nice and prevents large numbers of people from falling into a cycle of abject poverty that they can't get out of, and also chooses not to prosecute minor non-violent drug offenses--how's that for government overreach?
I think you are mistaken. Socialism doesn't keep Europe nice; Europeans do. Socialism doesn't prevent Europeans from falling into poverty; Europeans do. Socialism doesn't have to prevent Europeans from becoming drug addicts; Europeans do that themselves.

If you have a group of people who don't want to live nicely, and don't want to work, and cannot control their drug intake, socialism will not help them.