I’m curious why this would surprise you. The reasons capitalism, cronyism, and elitist nepotism are dominant is because its the same people who benefit from those systems who would be needed to implement socialism properly. Sure we could and probably will see a populist socialist revolution spread across the world in the coming years. But will the positions of power in such a system be owned by a small group of people or will we distribute decision making across a wide range of people using modern technology? If positions of power are concentrated to an elite group once again (even if that group is initially benevolent and supportive of socialist ideals)… they will eventually take advantage of their power as all prior attempts have seen happen. The system will be tossed off once again in support of a less “late stage” capitalist system controlled once again by moneyed elites.