[jfaucett]

"I don't know why so many people think Socialism is about welfare."

Its one of the meanings that the word socialism has come to denote through quotidian usage in media and within Amercian society. Democratic Socialism would likely be a more precise term for these common usage scenarios.

see Usage Discussion of socialism at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

[dalke]

Here's a recent essay in The Atlantic, by Anu Partanen, concerning the difference between the two - http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/bernie-s... :

> Americans are not wrong to abhor the specters of socialism and big government. In fact, as a proud Finn, I often like to remind my American friends that my countrymen in Finland fought two brutal wars against the Soviet Union to preserve Finland’s freedom and independence against socialism. No one wants to live in a society that doesn’t support individual liberty, entrepreneurship, and open markets. But the truth is that free-market capitalism and universal social policies go well together—this isn’t about big government, it’s about smart government.

[jwdunne]

And yet incorrect. Democratic socialism is the idea that socialism can be achieved through reform rather than revolution. In some respects, it has been less successful than revolutionary socialism: the UK Labour Party, until recently, reformed itself away from democratic socialism.

In the UK, welfare as we know it here originated from the Liberal Party, in fairness. Nationalisation (attempted socialism by reform) was the hallmark of the Labour Party, not heavy welfare spending.

Since Thatcher, the Tories have a knack for presenting themselves as the thrifty party - in effect, living within our means. Except household budgets are not so analogous to government budgets. It just so happens that this line resonates with the everyday voter in times of economic woe and it's all too easy to paint the social democrat as a boundless spender.

An example: in 2007 the Tory Party's shadow chancellor, George Osborne, said he would match Labour's spending plans. Recession hits, tax revenues drop and they harped a very different tune.

It's honestly just politics.