Some reflections following a Freakonomics podcast episode^[1] I just listened to and a Read.Write.as blog post^[2] I just read. Something that puzzled and frustrated me in my five fantastic years in the US was the tendency of some (not all) Republicans to use Western European countries (particularly Nordic) as examples of Socialism. This was usually when talking about Democrats suggesting higher taxes and/or funding social policies to reign in perceived market failures and decrease inequalities – as an example Obamacare = socialised healthcare = Socialism.