Today’s political arguments often pit Capitalism vs. Socialism, simplistically treating them as a binary choice. They are not. There are three main dimensions to how either approaches the social contract: (1) ownership — private vs. public, (2) control of production and distribution — collective vs private contract, and (3) distribution of the material outcomes — equal vs. free market.
The U.S. is largely capitalist on (1) and (2), but does redistribute material outcomes through numerous welfare programs. Between the Federal(75%) and State(25%) we spend $1 Trillion per year on these programs, yet nearly 40 million Americans live below the poverty level. If we simply handed out, per capita, the $1 Trillion each would get $25,000. Poverty abolished! The current system drains off huge amounts of money on the inefficient bureaucracies that dole out the welfare.
Find my solution in my Fair Tax post.