"It seems that you are very selective in your outrage."

I've noticed that that is the case with 99% of people, Jack. ;-) It's exactly what renders most political arguments futile. No common ground or objectivity can be found, because people are very selective in their outrage. They reserve it only for those whom they are already opposed to for some reason of prior prejudice. This is why the people on both sides of any issue seem quite irrational in the eyes of their opponents.

pdq - What you have to fear in this world is not socialism, it is authoritarianism, police states, corrupt judges, bought politicians, torture chambers, incarceration, kangaroo courts, false "evidence", trumped-up charges, character assassination, war, invasion, lies, trickery, etc...

All of the above can and have been accomplished most thoroughly by means of BOTH socialist and capitalist systems. All that needs to be done is for corrupt and ammoral people to attain the highest positions of power, and then they can do all those things. All it requires is the will to do it on the part of the most powerful.

Most (virtually all) countries have a constitution now, often one quite similar to the American Constitution, and most of those constitutions say all kinds of wonderful stuff about running a society in a fair and just manner and following the rules of law and civil rights set out in the Constitution. All it takes, however, is a corrupt bunch of politicians, judiciary, generals, and captains of industry to betray a Constitution...and if they do, the ordinary citizen can do nothing about it, because they have police and military people who WILL virtually always follow the orders they are given.

Constitutional law is complex. The ordinary citizen usually doesn't know much about it. If some police or soldiers come and arrest him and if the judges and courts don't protect him, the Constitution won't save him.

Authoritarianism is what you should fear, pdq. Not socialism. Your constitution is being betrayed many times every day somewhere in the USA, and not because of socialism...but because of authoritarianism.

You now incarcerate more of your citizens per capita than any other nation in the world. More than China. China is communist.