Yes, those items (emergency services, schools, welfare) are "socialist." They are paid for through taxes for the common good. They are, however, items that the vast majority of folks support. I do have some relatives in rural Idaho who want to stop paying taxes for local roads, emergency services and public schools because they would rather only pay for what they personally use. My point in citing this is to demonstrate that 99.9% of us believe that we should pay taxes for some things that are for "the common good."
You state, "they would pick and choose [sic] who they tended to and not everyone is entitled to an education - only the ones with money." This is the antithesis of socialism. As for "reading up".... I am very well-read and quite well-educated. I did quite a bit of reading to refresh my memory on a few things when this thread started up. One of the difficulties with discussions about "socialism" is that there are different forms and nuances of it and many folks would rather stick it with a single label and lambaste it as a whole than to take the time to understand what a particular candidate is saying.
Do understand: I am NOT a socialist or even a liberal. I am not promoting socialism - democratic or otherwise. I am only pointing out that Bernie's *democratic* socialism is different than what you seen in those third world countries. Bernie's philosophies are far better compared to what you see in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and France. Those are NOT third world countries. When asked what "socialism" means to him, he frequently cites those countries. He is very clear that he believes in democracy,which is very different than what we see in nations such as Venezuela.
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.