I think that the word socialism is one that we should re-think. I agree with you that one of the basic tenants of socialism seems to be a redistribution of wealth. How does their saying go - from each according to their ability, to each according to their need - or something like that.
Here is a link to a good definition:
It seems to me that western culture all has some degree of socialism. Wouldn't we all like to have a class-less society? (Maybe not those in the “upper” class who reap all the rewards of a class-based society, but surely the rest of us would I think.) The early followers of Jesus were certainly as socialist as you could get. When the US instituted the income tax to pay for WW1, (back when we paid for wars that we waged), and then kept the income tax in place after the war debt was paid, that income tax was used to begin to implement the progressive policies that marked all of western society in the post-enlightenment world. We were making a conscious decision to re-distribute wealth in that progressive era. We were all instituting some form of “socialism”.
I agree with you that the working class in many countries is getting fed up with the load that they are being asked to carry, but I don't see this as linked very strongly to the social policies of the country. I think that a culture makes value statements about themselves when they decide what is important - what they want to pay for. The more socially progressive countries make value statements that indicate a strong sense of accountability for everyone in the culture - regardless of class or economic privilege. My dealings with the everyday folks like you and me in those countries leads me to believe that they generally support those national values. Where they get upset, just like the people in this country get upset, is when an ever increasing burden of the bill falls on their shoulders, as those who are wealthier see their portion of the bill reduced. While the European countries remain more socially progressive than the
Most of all, I agree with your last statement - what the party platform says and what the practitioners practice are often very different!