I am really sick of America seeing this when they hear the word socialism
When the reality is
Socialists, social democrats, those that believe in people over profit and human need over corporate greed are doing things right. There is a model, right now, of a governmental structure that works for everyone, by everyone. Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist, knows this essential truth about the word socialism. Socialists are seen now as almost synonymous with Lenin Style communism, but the fact of the matter is, 100 years or more of hegemony has convinced many Americans that socialism is something to be feared. Fact of the matter is these evil red communist Nordic countries are some of the best run, happiest, most educated and most prosperous in the world. They certainly do things a lot better than we do, that is for sure.
So if democratic socialism works so well, then why is everyone so afraid of it? It would seem to any rational person who read these reports and knew nothing else of socialism that it would be great! It seems like they are doing a whole lot better than us, and we are the worlds richest economy! Why haven't we started migrating over to responsibly run governance like this?
This chart should explain things:
Taxes as a percent of GDP -- OECD Countries. (h/t www.vox.com for the chart)
The United States is a low tax country, and the people who have bought our political system have an interest in keeping it that way. The word socialism in US political discourse lacks depth because years and years of information blackout lead by the corporate-owned media and cold war style propaganda have mixed to form an uneducated bullshit view of socialism that is nowhere near rooted in fact.
Please keep this diary around for your reference the next time someone smears Bernie in an email chain or on FB to directly refute the claim.