I have been thinking about Socialism and because of this I have been looking at Trotsky's writings.[Especially his desperate attempts to get a visa from any democratic country in Europe claiming the right of asylum, though he admitted that he would not stop in trying to undermine those very same governments.] Listening to debates with Bryan Caplan, and Huemer.  On one hand, I can imagine that people have never heard of the USSR in the 1930's and mass famines, mass arrests, etc. and the fact that what ever utopia one dreams up, there are always unforeseen consequences.

Still I am trying to understand this issue. Maybe that everyone should have the exact amount of equal stuff is not what motivates the interest in socialism. Maybe it is that people do not want others to have more stuff than anyone else because of some unfair advantage or exploitation. Maybe no one cares if others have more stuff than them if based on the fact that they put in more effort. Fair competition is fine. It is perhaps people's sense of justice that drives the interest in socialism.

Added to this is the American form of government does not seem transferable to other areas of the world. Even if people see the greatness of the USA, they might be aware that just because lots of other countries have American style constitutions does not change a thing about the ipso facto kind of dictatorships they live under.  Maybe people differ in their DNA?

I  saw this a lot in the former USSR. Almost everywhere I went and asked people how were things during the USSR, their answer always was, "Better than now." [Sometimes they would add: "Everyone worked."]