Socialism, in modern American context at least, is a very dirty word. To some extent, that’s perfectly legitimate, because human experimentation with socialism has incorporated extravagant flops from boondoggle, to calamity. The rise and fall of the iron curtain resides in this space, as do the pertinacious human rights repressions of China. So, too, perhaps does the economic crisis in Greece, and a great many more historical follies besides.
