Why ‘Socialism’ Conveys One Thing Here, Another There

Socialism is stirring politics again, whether wielded as a governing philosophy, an insult, or both. In the U.S. presidential race and elsewhere around the world, the term is being newly embraced, debated or disparaged amid larger conversations about rising inequality, the proper role of government, how to make sure capitalism works for average citizens — and what socialism really is, and isn’t.