Europe and China were on a path to surpass the US economically but both embraced socialism, and destroyed their chances.

Socialism never works. This experiment has been run many times. Yet it keeps getting tried - humans are drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Btw, the US was not immune to this either - we continue to have many socialist members of congress and policies. Just this week Karen Bass + Gavin Newsom announced soviet style price controls in the wake of the LA fires (a terrible idea). Kamala Harris proposed these as part of her campaign.

The US was the least bad of the large economies, but still left probably half its growth potential on the table with socialist policies.

This is a no brainer. Economic freedom (the opposite of socialism) leads to prosperity for all. In 2025, we'll need to work to get more socialist candidates out of office, to ensure and accelerate civilizational progress.