The article's opening paragraph stated,

Socialism has held the world in its grip since the beginning of the 20th century. People everywhere fell for the seductive allure of governmental security. Now on the eve of the 21st century, people all over the world are considering letting go of the socialist nightmare. But tragically, one of the peoples on earth who are refusing to let go of socialism are the Americans.

In the article, I cited three examples of American socialism: Social Security, public (i.e., government) schooling, and subsidies to businesses.

Thirty years later, it's time to revisit that article. Unfortunately, as we will see in the course of this multipart article, Americans are more wedded to socialism than ever before.

The principles of socialism

A 100 percent socialist society is one in which the state owns everything — the businesses, industries, houses, farms, and all other personal and real property. In a purely socialist society, everyone is a government employee.

Ideally under pure socialism, everyone is equal in terms of income and wealth. As a practical matter, however, in a socialist society some people are more equal than others. Those who are higher in the governmental bureaucracies usually receive higher incomes than those at the bottom.