On innovation, USSR was in a state of competition with the US (cold war, space race, etc.) so innovation was valued. If some poor genius came up with an idea which could put them a step ahead, his invention was given attention and resources. Any "peaceful" socialist innovations worth mentioning? Socialism doesn't promote a good work ethic or drive to innovate without externally created incentives. You work, you eat, you don't work, you still eat.
On the other hand, the current patent system and the way corporations work in most of the democratic world is not a great breeding ground for innovation, either. Many people come up with great ideas only to discover they can't afford to protect the idea with a patent since they don't have a massive R&D budget to turn it into a product in the time required before patent costs become astronomical (international patents are EXPENSIVE, but can be deffered for 6 to 18 months depending on the process used). So they sit on the idea and try to develop it themselves, often with disastrous results (many inventors are not great with finance or other aspects of starting or running a business). Besides, truly innovative ideas are rarely immediately profitable (due to requiring development to make them more practical or lack of market acceptance due to being too "different", etc).
Corporations CAN afford to develop innovative concepts and do, but only those deemed to be profitable for their business, not necessarily ones beneficial to their customers, the environment or mankind in general.
It's hard to find a balance and especially hard to incentivise people to excel, while making them feel safe should they fail, which is what is needed to promote true progress.
People need to know they'll be looked after, while also being shown that their ideas and input are valued.
Think about someone like Leonardo Da Vinci, for instance. What kind of job do you think he'd be doing nowadays? Would he be able to find his place in current western democratic society or in a socialist one? His ideas were so broad in scope, that a single company wouldn't be able to produce them all, so even if he ended up in the R&D section of a massive company, he'd still feel stifled and restricted. In a socialist state, he'd most likely simply be ignored or end up doing some technical maintenance work. Even if he ended up at a university, most of them are run like businesses nowadays, the scientific paper publishing system is a mess and he'd have to keep submitting ideas to the board that can make profit for them in order to keep earning his residency.
Bah humbug! Mumble mumble...
On sweatpants, I like them. I usually don't actually sweat in them (and all building interiors here are heated), so cotton works for me.
