Compassionate Socialism - a So-Cap echo from Mississippi

An opinion to explain why the letter writer is a "So-Cap" - a Socialist-Capitalist published in the SunHerald, a Mississippi newspaper.  

In my opinion, an average person can't determine the macro differences between economic systems like "socialism" and "capitalism".  Perhaps, in a Utopian world, the purpose of "capitalism" would be to create wealth and to share it with others who can also invest and build a healthy economy.  Sharing wealth is one purpose for the graduated income tax. In other words, the more a person earns by working in a "capitalist economy", the more they pay in taxes to invest in growing the economy.  Socialism, on the other hand, redistributes wealth evenly throughout the economic system, regardless of earned wealth.  Either way, the purpose of both systems seems to bend towards the distribution of wealth.  

It's important for the average person to realize how socialism is not a political party. Rather, socialism is an economic theory.  Likewise, capitalism is not a government!  Instead, capitalism is an economic theory.  

An opinion published in the Mississippi Sun Herald calls for adapting a "So-Cap" economic position, whereby the two systems are in place to complement the strengths they have in common, ie, wealth distribution. 

It's an interesting compromise position.  

I'm certainly not an economist, therefore I'm not entirely positive, but I believe the United Kingdom (Great Britain) might be an example to demonstrate the "So-Cap" point of view.  

To the Editor:  Capitalism’s head is in the right place, but its heart is not. Socialism’s heart is in the right place, but its head is not. 

That’s why I am a “So-Cap” — a socialistic capitalist.

I believe in a capitalist economy that encourages competition and creativity and therefore efficiency and low prices, and is responsive to what people want, not what the government dictates. I also believe in government programs and regulations that provide intelligent, compassionate services to its citizens and prevents the abuses to which capitalism can lead (if you don’t know what those are, read 19th and early 20th century labor history in England and the USA).

Unfettered capitalism is brutal; it leads to exploitation, wealth concentration among a few, and violent rebellion. Unfettered socialism is suffocating and leads to stagnation and rebellion. 

We need to combine the best of these two economic philosophies to generate a healthy, thriving, enduring society. 

From Richard Creel in Biloxi Mississippi