“Socialism!” cried the Republicans. “America was built on hard work and rugged individualism! If you create a safety net, workers will just lose all of their incentive, and lounge in the hammock of dependency! America will go to hell in a handbasket!”
But FDR persisted, and the rest is history. Sure, we won World War II and the Cold War and built the strongest and most prosperous nation in history. But imagine how great we would be today if we made the poor, the elderly, and the unfortunate beg for charity and eat dog food! It would be awesome, baby!