It comes back to distribution of power and if you believe power is all corrupting or not.

You either have some guys in charge managing things, or you attempt a distributed/mob rules mentality in regards to policies and legislation. Either way in a socialistic system the government is THE governing body, and there aren't really any checks and balances other than the very body managing it. Which goes back to the question of whether or not you can trust the government.

IMHO the debate between the extreme right and extreme left is more about philosophy than policy.