Please do not fly to the opposite extreme

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It has always struck me as odd that that there is a certain type of person who finds it impossible to believe in shades of grey. For them, you are either at one extreme or the other. For example, if you object to the right-wing notion that the state must play no part in alleviating poverty, and that wealthy people must be allowed to keep all their money and not have part of it taken in taxes for the benefit of those less fortunate than themselves, you are apparently some sort of Communist! This attitude seems completely barmy to me. There are plenty of countries, my own (the United Kingdom) included, which practice a mixed economy that is based on capitalism but are also welfare states. The UK has a National Health Service, free at the point of use and paid for from general taxation, that is supported by politicians of every political colour. However, when you say this to certain people, the reaction suggests that we must all be rabid Communists and live somewhere that is indistinguishable from Cuba or North Korea! There will always be arguments that favour more or less state intervention and the degree to which social services should be supported or funded, but these should always be conducted at the level of deciding where the balance should be set, not that it should be all at one extreme or the other. I fail to see what is wrong with conducting public affairs along those lines.