[nickff]

The only difference being that places with more liberty are more prosperous, and places with more socialism are less prosperous. There doesn't seem to be an optimal 'middle-ground'.

[bonoboTP]

Universal healthcare is not socialism. Tax-paid social services aren't socialism.

Socialism is the collectivized ownership of the means of production and a centralized plan-based economy with fixed production quotas and prices.

Scandinavia isn't socialist. The Eastern Bloc in Cold War times was socialist.

Social democracy != socialism.