@RABEL222,
I hear this fear of the word "socialism" by people who should know better several times a day. The one thing I never respected from a pretty tidy percentage of people who self-identify as Democrats was their cowardice about words like liberal. A negative connotation arises, and you fold.
People who are authentic don't fear words that describe them - they either say the word isn't an accurate describer or if it is, they embrace it - as Bernie has.
If the rest of the country is afraid of the word
socialism, authentic progressives will define it and give examples of the socialism that is already thickly woven into the American daily life.
Educate, instead of allowing the ignorant or the movement's calculating enemies to run the narrative.
Meanwhile, let the fake progressives who call themselves Democrats - for what reason nobody knows - cower in the corner.