Is socialism really a threat? Not a chance

George Harrison, the late, great member of The Beatles, had a stock but thought-provoking answer for a question journalists would ask him in nearly every city he visited after the group broke up in 1970.

"George, what was life like growing up as a Beatle?" a member of the press would invariably ask.

"Couldn't tell you. Nothing to compare it to," Harrison would respond. "What's life like growing up not being a Beatle?"

In a similar vein, most Americans have no idea what life is like in other developed economic systems, because most have never experienced them. True, they may have a idea of what it's like from friends, relatives or visits abroad, but unless they've lived in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, or Italy for a year or so, they can't really say they know what a different economic system is like. (And, no, spending a week in Mexico or a summer in Canada is not equivalent to living for a few years in Paris.)