It used to be the word socialism was a political term – just not one most people would take to.  In turns, it was deemed as too expensive, too populist, too extreme, and, in the end, too impractical.  And so it remained relegated to the left end of the political spectrum, where it retained significant support, but often not enough to gain power.  There were exceptions to this, but they were rare.Now it's out of the box and infusing political and economic debate in most Western nations, especially in the Democratic debates in America.  How did it happen?  How did it even become a key contender for power in Europe and North America at the same time as populist alt-right policies also became the rage?  To discover the answer to that is to acknowledge that we perhaps had socialism wrong from the beginning.Older generation grew up in threats of world wars, nuclear wars and political wars.  Such extreme circumstances frequently led to extreme conclusions that just might not be practical, or even true.In order to drum up western support for the Cold War years, elites took to describing communism as socialism, and it stuck because fear can be a powerful motivator.  Capitalism suddenly had an evil foil and both governments and businesses took special delight in demonizing the communism threat from both Russia and China.  Communism and socialism became synonymous.  The link stuck and it's been with us ever since.But maybe not so much at present.  What we are witnessing is the phenomena of new generations of citizens/voters who never went through such periods of global caution and who see socialism as an alternative instead of a threat.  Some, as in the millions of supporters of Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, actually believe it is the solution.These generations see the same threat in capitalism that those who preceeded them saw in communism and socialism.  They have grown up in an era where the meaning and availability of work have severely dwindled, where the planet was plundered, austerity gutted physical and human infrastructure, where politics has become unmoored from ethics, and where corporatism has largely taken over the world economy.  They view socialism more as the dictionary describes it than what previous generations were told.  Webster's puts it in simple terms:  “Socialism - a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. “ Such a definition comes across as non-threatening and sensible to them.How else to explain to the massive following Bernie Sanders has among young people?  The Republicans tossed out progressivism and compromise years ago, and the Democratic challengers for leadership frequently represent the status quo as opposed to outright change. New generations, along with some of their older citizen counterparts, have, with alarm, watched as corporate taxes have been slashed, national standards, including for environmental protection, have been removed or ignored, worker's groups, including unions, have been decimated by direct government and corporate intention, and inequality has begun to mushroom.To such individuals – millions and millions of them – a 78-year-old who rails against such decline is highly appealing.  It's not about generational division but generational memory and Sanders has tapped into such sentiments, not by artifice or political propaganda, but a life of service dedicated to the values listed in the Webster's definition above.And there's more.  They worry that with every passing administration the chances of getting things rights are becoming more impossible.  As Joshua Zeitz wrote in Politico Magazine:“It's pretty reasonable to expect that presidents not misdirect law enforcement and civilian officials to do their political bidding, that presidents be transparent with the media, and that courts remain free of political influence.  The point, rather, is that these norms were not timeless features of our system.”In other words, the era of political accountability and social-economic progress might never return.  There is no such thing as “normal” anymore, and people like Donald Trump are in the process of making sure of it.The Great Recession of 2007 ripped open the true intentions of modern democracy and capitalism and raided the treasury, not only of the money required to rebuild and repair, but even of the will to do so.The concept of socialism, unmoored from the earlier concerns and dangers of its communist linkages, is enjoying a new birth of freedom in established democracies.  It only makes sense, since the tinkering with our severe problems by the modern political and corporate elites has left our democratic decline largely unanswered and unchallenged.  This is now a reality in Canada as much as America, and in Germany as much as in Britain.  It's a new era of challenge and protest and isn't going anywhere, regardless of how people feel about it.Glen Pearson was a career professional firefighter and is a former Member of Parliament from southwestern Ontario. He and his wife adopted three children from South Sudan and reside in London, Ontario. He has been the co-director of the London Food Bank for 32 years. He writes regularly for the London Free Press and also shares his views on a blog entitled “The Parallel Parliament“. Follow him on twitter @GlenPearson.