My observation is that socialists and other collectivists fundamentally believe that life is a zero sum game. That there is a fixed amount of pie, and government needs to ensure that everyone gets an equal share. It is apparent that such is not the case, given a moment of reflection. Consider what life was like 70 years ago, or 50 years ago, or 30 years ago. It is clear that most people's lives have steadily improved materially over time, and this despite the increasing number of people in the world. Clearly a lot more pie has been created. Much of this improvement came about through the efficiency of division of labor, another concept not liked by Romanicists, socialists, and other collectivists. They particularly object to "creative destruction" brought about by capitalism, where inefficient corporations go out of business.

The failure of socialism can be seen clearly seen in India. Under Nehru, who famously said "profit is a dirty word," India's economy was a failure. With Nehru and his daughter, Indira Ghandi, gone India switched to a more capitalist friendly regime, and the economy has soared. A similar thing has happened in China, which is socialist in name only.

All around the world nations are coming to grips with the failure of socialism in various ways. Most nations are reducing taxes, and now have lower tax rates than the United States. But, ironically, the United States, which was the lone hold-out as the world turned to socialism in the 20th century, now is looking at the return to power of collectivists Democrats (in the mold of FDR) who favor higher taxes. (FDR did not have complete control of the country because a coalition of Southern Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and the Supreme Court, prevented him from fully implementing his fascist policies.)