“Why that should cause more people to turn to socialism as an answer is mystifying.”
No it isn’t! We have nearly half of our population that seeks to be “cared for.” Admittedly, some are there out of desperation, not being able to find gainful emplioyment, but the majority are simply layabouts who think the country should care for them from womb to tomb.
That is a very disturbing issue here in the US; besides wanting to be provided for in every way, our gibsmedats want the same standard of living as the people busting their humps working to provide their freebies.
The men who developed industry in the US understood that people had to be motivated to work; the idea of paying people to sit on their asses would have them turning in their graves.