In America, the word “socialist” carries a political taboo with it. It is freely thrown about by conservatives to describe those who advocate for government spending and intervention in the economy. Most of the time, Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are labelled as such, but the term is even used as a slur against moderate Republicans like John Kasich and Mitt Romney. It is often used as a snarl word by small government conservatives, who are absolutely opposed to the idea of government intervening in the free market. By using the term, conservatives hope to tie their opponents to the long-feared ideology of Communism in the minds of voters; they want voters to think that their “socialist” opponents will confiscate all the wealth and give it to people who don’t deserve it, killing innovation and stifling economic growth. This tactic has been standard procedure among the Republican party since the 1980s; they managed to establish a period of dominance for conservative economic policies.

The issue is that their use of the term is highly misleading and inaccurate. First, moderate Democrats like Obama and Clinton are far from being socialist; they do not advocate for government-run universal healthcare or government-provided childcare services. They support higher tax rates on the rich, but not to the extent of the tax rates of European countries. In fact, they would be considered fairly conservative in many of these countries; if you took Obama and put him in Britain, he would probably join the Conservative Party and campaign vigorously for efficient public services and a more competitive economy.

Second, socialism refers to an economic system where the means of production are publicly rather than privately owned. Conservatives keep claiming that Obama is a Marxist and wants to establish a Communist dictatorship in the US; he apparently wants to get rid of the free market. This overly simplistic idea flies in the face of reality; neither Obama nor his other counterparts in the Democratic Party wants to get rid of capitalism or free enterprise. They merely want more regulation of business, ensuring workers are treated fairly and stuff like the 2008 financial crisis don’t happen again. Not even Bernie Sanders, a social democrat who mistakenly describes himself as a “socialist”, wants to get rid of capitalism or fundamentally change the operation of the American economy. They believe that capitalism is a productive, but fundamentally flawed system that leads to income inequality and a gap between the rich and poor; they support government spending and regulation as ways to mitigate the excesses of capitalism and keep society stable.

See Democrats, unlike Republicans, understand that no system is inherently perfect. Whereas conservatives worship the free market and place it on a pedestal, Democrats understand its flaws. They understand that income inequality is a serious problem in a free-market economy and leads to stagnant wages and consumption among the middle and working-class. They understand that too little regulation leads to problems with the environment, health issues, and financial crises that put millions of hard-working Americans out of work through no fault of their own. They understand that a social safety net does not coddle the poor, but keeps people cushioned in hard times and empowers them to get their lives back on track. While conservatives idolize "the American Dream" and the self-made entrepreneur, Democrats understand that it takes a village to raise a child to be a successful, productive adult. While conservatives keep hammering on the idea of personal responsibility and simple, hard work, Democrats know that reality is not like this, that opportunities for social mobility and advancement have to be created.

The conservative world view is simple and easy to understand, even appealing in a way. Everyone who works hard and takes responsibility will succeed in due time, especially when the government does not interfere in the economy. The issue is that it conflicts seriously with reality. For example, the Great Depression really shows how flawed their ideology and beliefs are. The Great Depression was caused by a period of laissez-faire economic policy that led to a massive speculative boom. People invested in the stock market using a ridiculous amount of borrowed funds and stock prices seemed to climb ever higher until they reached a point of severe overvaluation. Industries produced too many goods while middle-class and working-class Americans used credit to purchase the goods since their wages were relatively stagnant. Income inequality was very high, the economy was unstable, and the financial system was close to a crisis. Everything crashed in October, and the Great Depression came upon as the country’s financial system collapsed and industries suffered from a crisis of overproduction as people couldn’t afford to buy goods no more. The government, under President Hoover, took little action and tried to let business and the rest of the economy fix itself gradually. This did not happen; FDR was elected President and turned things around with his New Deal plan. While conservatives argue and claim that his plan didn’t help the economy, it definitely had an effect; people had more spending money and there was restored confidence in the financial system. This is the classic example of why liberal economic policies work.

Conservatives can make all the claims they want, but the fact is that socialism works. And it isn't painful at all.