What's called "socialism" in America was bog standard "liberalism" a few decades ago. In some cases, it was considered moderate, common sense bipartisan policy. Even Nixon thought universal healthcare and the Clean Air Act were good ideas!
@gwynnion it's intentional polarisation: moving things further apart that should be conceptionally closer together. It helps ensuring people join opinionated camps and rile against one another, effectively shutting down collaboration and open dialogue.