History has not been kind to socialism, it is a frequently misunderstood politicized term and has been abused by various extremist groups and tyrannical regimes for propaganda. The regimes did not represent socialism, the democratic people's republic of korea is not democratic, many christians fail to abide by christ's message to give all you wealth to the poor in order to be perfect, however it does call into question why so many regimes chose socialism for their propaganda during the cold war.
Turning socialism into a viable political philosophy that can win an election and prevent itself from being abused excessively is the first step, and the most difficult because it either requires that we reject the socialist brand name and build up an entirely new brand or we will have to convince the extremists that they are the problem.