The billionaire and corporate class in the United States uses the scare word "socialism" to discredit anyone calling for investment in useful public programs such as education, healthcare and infrastructure improvements, requiring corporations to abide by environmental protection laws, and making the entirely reasonable demand that the super wealthy do their patriotic duty and pay their fair share of taxes by closing tax loopholes such as off-shore tax havens.
President Harry Truman had some intelligent things to say on the subject:
It is kind of like when people use the word racism, I sometimes think they don't even know what the word means. I remember when we had some serious racism going on, these people today don't have a clue what real racism is.
