Nearly all the rest of the developed world is some form of social democracy, has been for all my lifetime, and we seem to be doing quite well.

It seems to me that you simply have no idea what the word “socialism” actually means.

Also, I’m not quite sure what you mean by “promoting democracy”. Now, I’m only 56 years old, but US foreign policy in my lifetime has been one horrible disaster after another — Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen — and lots of overthrowing of democratically elected governments that the US simply didn’t like, such as in Chile.

You talk glibly of “history” and yet I see no evidence that you are actually familiar with it. I suggest you go back and actually review what you were told about history with a critical eye, starting with this book.