"Socialism is an alternative to capitalism..."

“A man who chooses between drinking a glass of milk and a glass of a solution of potassium cyanide does not choose between two beverages; he chooses between life and death. A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings. Socialism is an alternative to capitalism as potassium cyanide is an alternative to water.”

~ Ludwig Von Mises from his 1949 book Human Action (ch. 24 sec. 3)