I too avoid using the word “socialist.” It doesn’t have a bite to it. Instead, I call our leaders what they have truly become. Fascist pigs. It reminds all the dried up, slow moving hippies of the perverted irony that theirs is THE generation that has fully embraced textbook fascism.
I prefer Communist. It has more bite. And makes people think. I think Communist is better for breaking down the MSM hypnotrance most sheeple are suffering from. The shock value is better.