Economics is not a zero-sum game: A Tale of Two Widgets

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Very few Democrats are real socialists. Not even AOC is a real socialist. Socialists believe the government must own the means of production. AOC is not advocating that, neither is Bernie Sanders.

So why do they use that word? It's because the Republicans will always call things like universal health care socialism. Of course, it's not, but to make that clear to the public requires explaining it to them, and as Ronald Reagan said, "If you're explaining, you're losing." So just like Christians accept the "Jesus Freak" moniker, Democrats like AOC will adopt the "socialist" moniker, even if it's not accurate. If they're always going to call you a "socialist", then you might as well say, "OK, I guess I am a socialist," which is disarming.

All supporters of R's and D's are some level of socialists. There's a problem with the accepted definition of socialism which states all production should be owned OR regulated by the community thus creating the ability to call anyone and everyone a socialist and be correct (except for anarchists and to some degree pure libertarians.)

Many liberal advocates act like "Robin Hood".

I will take from your employer and give to you.

-Raise minimum wage to $15/hr
-Mandate employers give family leave time.
-New Health care tax on employer
-Raise Social Security tax on employer
-Increase corporate tax

However, these programs need to increase productivity, or the employer will reduce compensation to offset this.

Amazon did this. When they implemented $15/hr, they eliminated their warehouse worker bonus and stock compensation programs.
https://business.financialpost.com/news ... -wage-hike

To some extent we are all socialists in America if you are using the definition we use of people paying taxes and then the tax revenue being distributed. As far as the classic definition of socialism I don’t even think Bernie Sanders is advocating that.