evidence: Democratic socialism has had a global resurgence. As many as 70% of millennials say they are "likely" to vote for a socialist candidate. The problem is that the youth of today – and for that matter Bernie Sanders – do not know what democratic socialism looks like. [...] When politicians such as Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say that they want socialism, they always point to Sweden. If you want higher taxes, then perhaps Sweden is the country to emulate. However, Sanders and company need to know that Sweden and its Scandinavian neighbours are not socialist countries – at least, not today. A democratic socialist country does the kind of things that the UK did before Thatcher (and which Sanders, et. al., advocate today): The state controlled markets to the point of emasculation. Sweden, by contrast, has almost total free trade, lower corporate tax rates than the U.S., no wealth tax, and no minimum wage. Yes, the Swedes have high marginal tax rates, but their tax and welfare systems do not redistribute much more than the UK’s present welfare state. A number of economic freedom indices suggest that, on several dimensions, Scandinavian countries are less socialist than the U.S. And it cannot be considered progressive that Sweden’s high Value Added Tax ensures that the less-well-off shoulder a large share of the nation’s tax burden.