Socialism and communism have been conflated as interchangeable in our country for longer than the 75 years I've been around. When I was young, it was viewed kinda like the war on drugs. That is if you take one tiny step, the slippery slope will take you to the bottom, meaning communism.
They are not the same, and imo, democratic socialism is more a northern European approach than a Soviet approach. I do not see evidence that there are proposals for the government to seize private enterprise, into governmental ownership. While there must be some one out there wanting that, it is very fringe. It will not appeal to most.
Ronald Reagan campaigned against the creation of medicare. He stated it would lead to the loss of individual liberty. We are sixty years past his prediction. My life experience has not been defined by losing my liberty.
I think that this rise in democratic socialism is a reaction to the conditions now quite common. For a good while, when I was still working, I felt that I was at the lower edge of the portion of society that could pull ahead, over a span of time. I made good money, working in an oil refinery. The company offered generous benefits. It was not difficult to put away money for a future retirement, yada, yada. For a person making $10/hr less than what I was earning, it would have been much more difficult to both live a middle class lifestyle, and save for a comfortable retirement.
We have had a k shaped economy for most of my adult life. The upper 15 to 20 % has prospered quite well. The remaining portion of society, never really gets ahead. The frustrations of this portion of society is largely responsible for the political situation, today.
