I won't enter the capitalism vs socialism debate, because it's a false debate As I stated before but for communism; Capitalism is an economic system, "democratic socialism" is a "political philosophy", we're comparing apples and dicks, this isn't going to lead anywhere And it's not my personal interpretation, that's what those concepts are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism >>Democratic socialism is a socialist political philosophy which advocates political democracy alongside a socially owned economy,[1] with an emphasis on workers' self-management and democratic control of economic institutions within a market or some form of a decentralised planned socialist economy.[2] Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality and solidarity and that these ideals can be achieved only through the realisation of a socialist society. Although most democratic socialists are seeking a very gradual transition to socialism,[3] democratic socialism can support either revolutionary or reformist politics as a means to establish socialism.[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism >>Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.[1][2][3][4] Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system and competitive markets.[5][6] In a capitalist market economy, decision-making and investments are determined by every owner of wealth, property or production ability in financial and capital markets, whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets.[7][8] ... Now, my opinion is that you just can't use "capitalism" in place of "national project", for lack of better words, and call it a day. Unless your goal is to turn your country into something half way between a brothel and a circus It's kind of like answering the question "what is your political program?" with "ecology". It's not enough, it's not going to cut it. A car isn't just an engine, it's more than "just that". ... The foundation fo the US, founding fathers 1776 and all that, it's noàt just "capitalism", it's much more than that, it's an ideal And capitalism, isn't an ideal, it's not a way of life, it's a tool to reach that goal/ideal/way of life... Eventually The idea that the "american dream"/"american way of life"/"America" is simply "capitalism" is just flat wrong ... And yes you need health care, social programs it's important. And just throwing money on a problem isn't enough to solve it. But that's another debate.