America has been coping with the dichotomy of socialism/capitalism for 150 years. It's not the economics that devide us, it's the philosophy. Capitalism is the logical extention of individualism. It values individual rights (freedom, independence, property, inheritence) and is the pioneer spirit that is the American dream.
Socialism is a product of group conciousness and speaks to our sense of interdependence and fair play. Oddly, it calls upon the values of religious tradition. (Oddly, because religion seems to be the watchword of the right)
It is in the spirit of democracy and diversity that America has managed this conflict with so little blood being shed, except for that little incident in the 1860s.
The America haters, on this thread, can jeer but, with all its flaws, America was the first open society and is always the first to pitch in when a catastrophe occurs. (Charity and empathy are part of our natural ethos) Democracy, by definition, is dangerously unpredictable but I'll take it.