I completely get this.
I have one friend who agrees with everything I say, but as soon as I say any word that falls into the category of "bad thing" (as determined by his facebook feed), he disagrees.
Communism and anarchism aren't scary, they're just shit. Socialism is fine, but most people have their own definition of what that means.
The "bundle of sticks" analogy has historically been used a lot by fascists. If someone used it to try to convince me, you can be sure it would backfire!
"Well, you see, a single stick can easiky be broken in two, but a bundle of sticks will stand to almost anything!
Now, imagine if you will, that one of those sticks was actually an axe handle..."