>stronger welfare state is compatible with considerably less out-of-control police than we have in the United States; witness anywhere in northern Europe.
Or Cuba or Venezuela?
Or Cuba or Venezuela?
Cuba was economically starved by the US and its allies and unable to interact with the global economy. This paired with its early history of horrific human rights abuses led to a rough state that continues to this day. But, and this does not excuse how violent the state was in its early days, Cuba does have no unemployment or homelessness which is something remarkable.
Those are edge cases though. Look at the northern european countries, canada, or germany