GfS is correct that a balance of capitalism and socialism is the best way to go. They are natural partners and should be able to work together quite effectively (as they presently do in most if not all western democracies). The endless diatribes that bounce back and forth between Left and Right are not helping things much, they are simply maintaining strife and distraction.

There's no reason why people should fear socialism, per se, because you MUST have some socialism to run a modern society.

There's no reason why people should fear capitalism, per se, because it remains a very effective way of enabling people to exchange thousands of different goods and services that are better not handled through socialism.

The demonization of both socialism and capitalism in popular rhetoric is not productive. It's a distraction.

To call Obama a "socialist" seems silly to me. If he's going to be an American president he will be governing a country that will continue to deal with socialism and capitalism BOTH, and there ain't no other way to do it.

He has to be both a socialist AND a capitalist if he is going to govern America.

Same goes for McCain, by the way. There's no way they can privatize everything, no matter what the politicians posture and pretend about it. Nor is there any way they can socialize everything. It will always be a combination of the two.