We've heard a ton about how the right calls anything they don't like socialism, but conversely, a good chunk of the left also likes to call social welfare and basic safety nets socialism. Go to r/genz or subs about AOC or Bernie. More than half of the people in those places saying that they want socialism actually want social democracy when pressed. I think it is a fair assumption to say that US framing of the term during the cold war has really shaped the perception of the word socialism. I presume the left wing misused of the term was a reaction to the right's misuse. I imagine someone online thinking that socialism is a catchy word, more so than social democracy, and its conveniently opposite to capitalism, so they just built it from there and it got popular with young people. Am I wrong, and if so, should we aim to correct it? To both be more academically accurate and avoid the negative connotation thats now attached to the word. I know some people are dogmatic about reclaiming words etc, but like woke, I think that shipped has also sailed with socialism, and what many progressives want is not socialism anyways, so why fight that fight against conservatives?