I've only been alarmist once that I remember, and it wasn't about socialism per se, it was specifically about US democratic socialism. It was when I thought that Bernie Sanders might become the Democratic presidential candidate, and I would actually be forced to vote for Trump. That was an alarming thought. The rest of the time I've just been in disagreement, however vocal.
I fully admit, I am a strong advocate of capitalism and a market economy, albeit with appropriate "guard rails" for protecting the environment, equality, fiduciary responsibility, product safety, and some other factors for defending the public good. I am also an advocate of financial meritocracy, and I think that system works famously. (Don't confuse support of meritocracy with our inane tax system that values wages less than other income. I did that rant before.) Nonetheless, I think there are things that can be well done by governments, though I'd rather not distract this post with those right now.
The economic success of some countries you mention are not, IMO, the result of their socialistic policies, they are usually the result of their capitalist policies, or other factors, like mineral wealth. Canada and Australia have become more capitalistic over time, and both are especially proud of their recent high technology achievements, mostly done by start-ups. The world's only production quantum computer, for example, is designed and built in Vancouver. Sweden is home to important telecom and engineering companies. Norway is more socialistic, but it has a multi-trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund from oil. Isn't it odd that France and Italy are both so well known for luxury products made by corporations aimed at the rich, when both of those countries seem to despise rich people, and have previously tried to nearly tax them out of existence? But here's a better question... why is Europe still quite secondary to the US, when it has more people by far? And all of these countries get to benefit financially from the US security umbrella? Their children are arguably better educated. They have more equitable health care. They live longer (in general). It is an interesting question.
Regarding monopolies... they used to be different. They actually did dominate necessities. Is Google a monopoly like that? Nope. Not even close. I use Bing all the time because I own more Microsoft stock than Google stock, and it works just fine. So does Yahoo. Is Amazon a monopoly? No way. Walmart? Not nearly. These are just companies that have become extremely rich, and a bunch of politicians think that they have power they don't. How many here really care about Facebook? Not me. Intel? How the mighty have fallen. Do these companies occasionally do some things that reduce competition or raise prices? Yeah, but it's not like Standard Oil was way back when. I think our politicians are just looking for something to do except actually govern and improve our lives.
I like getting richer from other peoples' genius. That's why I like capitalism.
