Man, I hate to break it to you, but none of those things are socialism.

Paid sick leave, workers’ rights, unemployment benefits, affordable education, family leave, and labor protections all exist within capitalist economies across the developed world. Those are features of social democracy and welfare states, not socialism.

Socialism is an economic system in which the means of production are owned collectively, publicly, or by workers rather than private individuals and corporations.

In fact, when people point to countries they admire for these policies, such as the Nordic nations, they’re pointing to highly capitalist countries with strong private property rights, stock markets, and large private sectors. They are not socialist economies.

Bernie Sanders and AOC are generally advocating social-democratic policies, not the abolition of capitalism. Whether you agree with them or not, that’s an important distinction.

The meme’s entire argument depends on treating “government programs I like” and “socialism” as the same thing. They aren’t.