Issue: Whether the Economic and Governmental Ideology of Socialism is compatible with the cultural values and outlook of the United States of America.

Rule of Law: Due to the nature of the issue, the question is not a legal one, but an ideological and philosophical one. There are few laws that come in to question when it comes to Socialism in the United States. However, the process of implementing and sustaining Socialism would call in to question topics which have already been decided by courts, such as the concept of Privacy, or the right to Private Property.

Analysis: Socialism is an economic and governmental model that states that the means of production, or the products the people and companies in a country produce, is a right to the people as a whole, rather than property of the company or individual that produced it. This economic model has been successful in some countries, such as much of Europe and Asia, and unsuccessful in others, such as Venezuela and the former Soviet Union. The issues that caused the Soviet Union to fail are numerous but can be summed up in totality with a single word, corruption. The leaders of the Soviet Union used Socialism and later its more strict younger brother, Communism, to wrest power from specific groups of people in order to maintain a vestige of power over the population. Perhaps in other nations with more successful instances of Socialism, the persons running the nation are more altruistic or have other motivations. In the United States, we have a Democracy, meaning that while it may not seem so, power is in the hands of the people. Our leaders have terms, and some can be voted into office multiple times, while others, like the President, have only two terms allowed so as to prevent a single individual from amassing mass power over the course of a lifetime. This Governmental Ideology has served us well over the past two hundred years, because we have grown to be a world superpower faster than most other nations, being an economic, political, and military titan in only a short century. This is a feat, mostly due to the age of most other nations, with some, like China, being many millennia old. Our economic model, known as Capitalism, is defined as a process where individuals can generate goods and services for personal use, or sell them at a market value for profit. The market value can be regulated, as is the case with minerals like gold, or unregulated, such as goods you buy at the mall. Unregulated Market prices are determined by the relationship between the seller, or how much he is willing to sell at a certain cost per unit, and the buyer, or how much the buyer is willing to purchase per dollar. This is known as Supply and Demand, and without getting into concepts of Macroeconomics, the law of Supply and Demand has been one of the main reasons for our economic growth in the United States, but it is not without faults. Market Crashes, such as the one in the mid 2000's, can cripple the law of Supply and Demand, causing buyers to save money instead of spend, which damages business profit models, and in the end can cause the growth of an economy to slow or even stop altogether, which can spell doom for a country.

Conclusion: One of the largest issues with Socialism is the concept of Democratic Socialism, which is the idea that a people in a non-Socialist society would spontaneously or through a process of lobbying, vote themselves in to a Socialist situation. The concern from opponents of the idea is that in the United States, for example, we have rights and liberties directly opposed to the tenants of Socialism, such as the right to private property and the penumbral right to privacy as ordained by the courts. If such a vote were to be made, it would either have to be enforced by a military action, which would fracture the Country into a Civil War, a concept that few would want or survive, or it would simultaneously have to be passed with a vast restructure of the political system, which could also potentially lead to an armed response from opponents. Another glaring issue with Socialism, is the individuals who are "proponents" of the Ideology. They speak in a way that seems to be for Socialism, but when challenged with the actual practice of socialism, such as donating half or all of their income to the State in order for it to be redistributed as the state sees fit, or donated to individuals in need of assistance, the "proponent" claims that they "earned" that money and they should not need to donate it, a concept so Capitalistic that it almost sounds like something straight from Adam Smith's mouth. Finally, we have the issue of Human Nature. In the natural world, as in society, there are Haves and Have-Nots. The haves are those who have, either through birthright or force of will, carved a slice of territory for themselves, either through the use of territory marking in the natural world, or through wealth generation in society. The have-nots are those who are either too weak, sickly, or unwilling to do what is necessary to better their position. While this may seem harsh or unfair, one must simply look around the world to realize this is the way things are. Not every buck mates during the Rut, not every early bird gets the worm, and not every worker gets the pay raise or promotion. It is a constant battle to gain advantage, and even in socialist societies that battle is present, it just is hidden under a veil of growth for the better of the state. When someone does better for the State, the State rewards that person, seeing someone be rewarded leads others to covet that reward, and so they either work harder to receive the same reward, or sulk when they do not. The nature of Humanity is absolute, and often the cause of our greatest victories and misfortunes. And while Capitalism may be the clear victor, it has its faults. Corporate America has too much of a hand in the path of the Government. No longer is the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup advertised as the such, but rather the Super Bowl presented by US Bank, and the Stanley Cup presented by Adidas. Advertising has become such an integral part of our lives that we can not even blink without seeing a thousand companies vying for our attention from every angle. Greed has brought the heart of this country out of the home and into the pocketbook, another folly of Human Nature.

And so, the ideal world would be where we are publicly capitalist, and privately socialist. Donate your time to your loved ones and your community, strive to develop yourself and those around you into their best possible versions. Generate wealth of wallet and of spirit, and above all else, stick up for the little guy. One day that little guy could be the President, or Prime Minister, depending on your country of origin.