>building up solid businesses
The government is supposed to do that? I thought entrepreneurs were supposed to do that.
>whatever it takes (unjust or not) to accumulate a higher percentage of the GDP through taxation
Like raising taxes? Bush's plan for his legacy is to make his tax cuts for the rich permanent, and if the Iraq war wasn't going so badly, they would have gotten rid of the capital gains tax and the inheritance tax.
The entire point of socialism is to redistribute wealth from the top to the bottom. The left wing wants to do that, and the right wing wants the rich to keep all of the income they receive from their wealth (as opposed to income created through work). Some amount of bureaucracy and social services is necessary. Yes, this money is essentially taken out of the economy, which has a negative effect, but that's the sacrifice we make to have roads, police, and retirement packages for our senators after they get thrown out for bribery. It's just inefficiency in the system- it isn't some fundamental problem that needs a great revolution.