@dg:
I'm from Denmark, which is a socialist country, and almost as rich (per capita, of course) as the US. We invent lots of new technology, make many world-famous products, and have one of the highest average literacy and education levels in the world - much higher than that of the US.
Socialism actually helps everyone, even the rich people, as you will more rarely get unexpected bills. You have to be VERY rich for a sudden and unexpected doctor's bill of $100.000, which is quite possible to get, to not even make you flinch. In Denmark, those don't exist - all medical care is free, with the exception of unnecessary plastic surgery.
Same thing with childcare, schools, higher educations etc. We may not ever see the actual money, but almost everyone uses these things, so we all get ours from it. It's pretty much the same thing as having insurance on everything. Most Americans (that can afford it) gladly pay for health insurance, and would probably pay for school- and unemployment insurance as well, if that existed. But they fail to see that socialism is just the government acting as the insurance agency (and, yes, not giving you the choice - but let's face it, most people NEED a little push, or they'll just think it won't happen to them), and settings insurance prices "by ability", so you pay more if you have more and vice versa. It's fair. It doesn't mean it's impossible to get rich - it's just impossible to get filthy rich and have a car park of 1000 cars and a 1 square mile house.
- I'm not trying to sell anything here - as I said, you are more than welcome to disagree with the politics - but it does prove that socialism does not drag a country in the mud. Socialism is not evil or stunting at all, IF it is done right. Bad examples include the former USSR, which was really a dictatorship with a communist economy, not actually communist.