lol I'm just talking generally if you're being genuine about this, the problem is more often than not the people I come into contact with who think that EU countries are 'socialist' in any guise are extremely disingenuous. I just don't think that 'socialism' really has anything to do with it, very often you get ideologues especially like Bernie Sanders who run around screeching it's Democratic Socialism when in reality it's not. If that's not you fair enough, I'm just deeply cynical about the whole thing when it comes to political discourse these days.
At most these countries are mostly market economies with a sprinkling of left wing ideology but because they're doing well anti-capitalists love pretending these countries are 'democratic socialism' then when somebody points to a country like Venezuela they'll claim it's not 'real socialism' despite the ruling party being Socialist as can be.
Neither is Bernie Sanders a true socialist by those definitions which makes your argument of comparison to Venezuela moot.
I am a proponent for a social government within a national framework, it is when the government overextends the ideology that things go south.
This post has it's genesis in a discussion that had two protagonists. One arguing Socialism and one Capitalism. But to me, it sounded like 'Animal Farm' in that they were trying to make the same points from the opposite perspectives.
I hoped for honest discussion about the term itself, and to clarify some of the precepts. The next one will be Capitalism, and I hope to do the same with it.
Plus I think a deep dose of cynicism is a healthy thing today.