Bingo! Not sure how so many people here can think it's socialism not fascism.

A century of lies being force fed to them

They spent their lives being told to fear/hate socialism, but never what it is. Perhaps because if they knew they would think it sounded like a great idea? Maybe that’s why so much effort goes into demonising socialism and communism, we wouldn’t want the plebs getting ideas…

Honestly, growing up in conservative middle America in the 70's and 80's, I somehow missed the "socialism is bad!" nonsense. Most EU countries are socialist, and they're doing quite well both as nations and for their people, who tend to be the happiest people on the planet overall.

Not terribly socialist to be honest, but certainly more “balanced” compared to the US/UK. Class consciousness, solidarity and a history of sticking it to the toffs is an important precursor to social justice. The very reason why these things are discouraged I suppose :)

It's about as close to "true socialism" as a country seems to be able to realistically get, though. All the pieces are there, there's just a bit too much privatization to quite get to "truly socialist".

You hit the nail on the head. As long as there are “countries” there cannot be actual socialism. Countries require elites, elites require rewards, rewards require diversion of “goods” from meeting needs to meeting elite desires. Which is antithetical to socialism. “Class struggle” is the result.

💯

Well, socialism being the democratic ownership of the means of production is contrary to corporate personhood, so the oligarchy (synonymous with corporations in the US at least) invests heavily to discourage it, yes. And look over here - Culture Wars! Ignore the men behind the curtain.