Oh my God, we've finally yelled at Americans on the internet enough that after A H U N D R E D F U C K I N G Y E A R S conservatives are vaguely aware that there's some linguistic difference!

It does work, guys!

Americans see China and think: "Oh no, very bad because of socialism/communism"

But as someone who was born in mainland China (I'm Chinese-American), PRC is nothing "socialist"/"communist" at all, its a horrible State-Capitalist Authroitarian Regime under the guise of Communist aesthetics. I don't fear socialism/communism because they never truely existed, in fact, I'd say that Norway or Finland (based on what info I could gather anyways, never personally been to Norway or Finland so I can't speak from experience) would be more closer to "socialism" than PRC, at least they actually have a social safety net, PRC doesn't.

As for why Americans fear these terms, I think it's because, for some people anyways, you can get labeled as an enemy of the state to even uttering "socialism"/"communism".

(Legal disclaimer to the FBI Agent reading this, just in case I have to make this clear: No, I am not a "communist", as in, I do not support the CCP or similar authoritarian parties, I just support a more egalitarain and democratic society however you want to call that, and my views are 100% compatible with the US Constitution, now fuck off FBI, stop trying to denaturalize me, maybe actualy investigate the traitor in the white house, for fuck sake)

McCarthyism is probably the most succinct answer. The Cold War directly aligned us against the Soviet Union, and a key means of villainizing the USSR and its citizenry was to paint their core governing beliefs as heretical to the American way.

There is also no doubt in my mind that Socialism's strong connection to Union activity in the US also incentivized Corporate Barons to lobby against Social Politics hard. I have not seen any specifics about that myself, though. Modern lobbying efforts are well-known, though.

cold war and the red scare once performed never went away

American Elites and conservative morons.

Not all Americans. The majority have wanted socialized Healthcare for a long time, but actual political results rarely match the popular opinion here.

Maybe this is just my experience living in a red state

It is

Communism as a concept, or what the world actually got?

Because those are not the same thing.

Cato institute is not a very reliable source imo. Admittedly did not look up this study but this is TV news and they are in the business first and foremost of trying to frighten their viewers (never watch TV news BTW). Fox viewers would be petrified by these numbers. I'm guessing that perhaps a disproportionate portion of the sample was college students, city dwellers or even just people that know how to read. Ie. Not a representative sample most likely. Also, this is not the demographic politicians pay the most attention to.

My mom had a spinal fusion in the 90s which she got in debt for.

About 15 years ago my lung spontaneously collapsed. Several surgeries later, the bill was $315,000. I was on Obamacare because of the mandate, thank god. I paid $19.

My mom found out and told me I "deserved to go bankrupt" because people like her had struggled for so long with their medical bills.

I don't speak to her anymore

Americans are willing to give up everything they own if it means some hypothetical strawman isn't "mooching" off of their propaganda headcanon.

Success is suffering and hard work and if everyone isn't suffering then life isn't fair. Fuck this entire viewpoint, but it's one of the main American traits ruining socialist ideals.

Your pharmacy lied. There is no legal requirement to try to bill insurance first they presumably stand in many cases to bill them more especially if you cash paid only after coupons or patient assistance programs which are essentially coupons.

Thus they choose to follow this process and lie to you.

Guess what. I visit my doctor, for free, (or dentist for $$$) they give me a prescription, I go to a pharmacy and give them the slip, they take some time to fill it, explain how to take it, and then I pay a small fee (80% covered by employer health plan at no direct cost to me) and walk away. Canadian healthcare system at work.

Sure, I have to wait sometimes for major surgery based on the triage approach (most serious cases seen first) but it is painlessly easy to get the care I need when I need it. This is how most of the developed world works. Your country is cheating you.

I bet you get tons of free bonuses too: roads, public education, pensions... Damn, seems like this whole government thing is quite efficient, with the no shareholders taking profits and stuff.

They also don't have good, compelling reasons to stay with the current system. They're not getting much out of it, and the "oh, but the computer you're making this on was created under capitalism" isn't that compelling of an argument, especially when the alternative is choosing between eating, and buying the medication that stops your blood turning into acid.

The whole "system of true opportunity, where the best and brightest can shine" rings hollow when you're working multiple jobs to survive, no matter how smart you are, and it feels like you're extorted at every opportunity.

Don't forget that ever since the other side has been trying to tear down that watered down version too, so what little people are given is always under threat of being removed