Folks on the Right screech the word Socialism as if it were the safe-word in a BDSM Vampire movie. Rarely, however, do they appear to know what they are talking about.
For example, how many understand the differences between socialism,
social democracy, and democratic socialism,? They are not the same. Bernie Sanders is usually described as a democratic socialist when in fact he is a social democrat. They are two different beasts.
Furthermore, corporate socialism is thriving in this country, but we will never hear a whiff of criticism about that form of socialism from cable news.
I have no hopes that America’s pundit class will ever learn to offer intelligent, historically aware, fully informed political commentary (because that would never serve the interests of the corporate status-quo), but I have found a good article describing a small slice of socialism’s important contributions to this country.
It is written by John Nichols for The Nation magazine. It is entitled “When Socialism Was Tried in America — And Was A Smashing Success.”
The entire article is well worth reading. I have posted a select portion below:
“Polling tells us that young voters are more comfortable with socialism than capitalism. Older voters may still be susceptible to Republican appeals rooted in Cold War hysteria, but the challenges posed by the existential crisis of climate
change and the radical transformation of our economy in an age of AI-driven automation are going to make everyone far more open to radical responses. And many of the best of these—especially those that call for expanding the social-welfare state—will draw from historic and contemporary socialist thinking.
“Democrats can get ahead of the curve and disarm Trump and the trolls by embracing the opportunity that Milwaukee offers to talk about socialism as it has existed and succeeded in the United States. For American socialists in the 20th century, Milwaukee was a political mecca, a city that tested and confirmed the validity of their ideas. Vladeck, then the manager of The Jewish Daily Forward (these days known simply as The Forward), called it an example of “the America of tomorrow.”
“Socialists were proud to point to Milwaukee, which had a Socialist mayor for most of the period from 1910 to 1960, as a model of sound and equitable governance. And they were not alone: During Hoan’s 24-year tenure, Time magazine reported, ‘Milwaukee became one of the best-run cities in the U.S.’”
