No paved roads? No public schools? No Medicare? No socialized medicine for veterans? No nationalized military? No labor unions? No government-supported college loans? No government regulations on tobacco and alcoholic drinks? No regulations of false advertisement?
I don't have time for a full response so here's a little cherry-picking *snicker*
I will point out that pretty much every level headed libertarian around is in favor of the government building the transportation infrastructure and military force. I wouldn't call these desires in and of themselves to be socialist. There is however much disagreement on how their oversight is implemented.
In my case I also say the same for underprivileged health care, although again the *implementation* is of real concern. Medicare and vets' care aren't exactly the shining stars of socialism's accomplishments, at least not here in the USA.
Public education? I'm in favor of the underprivileged having access. But I think if people can afford to make their own independent education decision, they should - rather than being forced to pay into a system "for themselves" whether they actually use it or not. Why should anyone sending their kids to private school continue to pay tax money that is supposedly for their own children? I say tax to cover for the underprivileged and leave it at that. And for the underprivileged themselves, the charter system appeals to me. But it remains to be seen how many kinks they're gonna work out of the charter approach. Again, it comes down to how they implement the idea. It's entirely possible that they could harness the responsiveness and innovation of the free market within the ethical concerns of treating human life with respect.
As far as the state of the economy is concerned, what is actually going on right now is very diabolical. People in power are currently saying that capitalism has failed and socialism is here to save the day. The actual reality is that some very wealthy, powerful men have been capitalizing gains, but now they want to socialize losses.
And that to me is the whole problem with socialism, is what it allows these greedy bastards to get away with.
Here's a bit of an irrational appeal, something which requires more heuristics than straight up logic to appreciate: Consider for a moment all the antagonists and villains in stories you've read. What are some awfully common characteristics you see in them? A lust for power... or put another way, a pressing psychological need to have more *control*.
America's founding fathers seemed to think it was really bad for one person or one group of people to have too much control, and I agree. It's the tenets this country was founded on, and I love living in my country very much. I don't believe in regulating morality or responsibility beyond the bare minimum necessary to preserve the rights of the individual - in short, to be free and pursue happiness.
Any more meddling in society than that, and government jobs start to look attractive to people with control issues. My 2 cents.