Socialism is an idea, not the Boogeyman

 

Bill Knight column for 4-8, 9 or 10, 2021

 In today’s divisive climate, if there were no public libraries and you proposed the idea of using tax money to buy books to loan out for free, imagine the response from some cynics: “What? Free books? How would that work, STALIN?!”

Public libraries are just one common-sense notion that puts community before commerce.

It’s socialistic.

Of course, for people of certain ages or political preferences, “socialism” sparks fear, confusion or regret at corrupted attempts. And small minds use the term against political foes, unfairly labeling them unpatriotic, authoritarian or worse. For what? Prioritizing everyday folks instead of campaign contributors and the rich?

Knee-jerks generalize social-oriented ideas with heavy-handed regimes depriving citizens of health care, food or freedoms. Yet many Republicans want to cut Social Security, food stamps, Medicare, etc.

Socialism is an economic philosophy preferring resources and businesses be run for the benefit of the public. However, its real-world application ranges from garden co-ops to municipal-owned electric companies. Other alternatives to capitalism enriching owners (who control resources, labor and markets) run the gamut from communist dictatorships to Israeli kibbutzes.

The power structure for years equated socialism with totalitarian regimes such as Russia or Venezuela while ignoring capitalism also has authoritarian states: Singapore, Turkey … Further, Right-wingers don’t recognize nations with socialist programs without repression, like the Nordic countries.

In fact, during the Cold War, many of the United States’ allies had strong socialist parties and policies like universal health coverage – Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom – along with traditional private-sector economies and free democracies.

“Social democrats use government to oversee the economy so that corporations and the wealthy are prevented from dominating and exploiting society,” wrote Joe Conason, author of “Big Lies: The Right-wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth.”

“Social democrats see health care and education as public goods that should be provided to everyone, because that benefits society as well as individuals,” he continued. “And social democrats view the natural environment, including breathable air and potable water, as birthrights for government to safeguard.”

Despite scare-mongering, U.S. socialistic programs are common, from farm subsidies to fire departments. And recent polls show that Americans have warmed to socialism. Last year, a Gallup poll said 43% of Americans say socialism would be a good thing. Among 18 to 34 year olds, 58% welcome the idea.

Until 2015 – when Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, campaigned for president and made socialism seem to be an idea more interesting than threatening – socialism was rarely discussed, so many were unfamiliar with it. Besides Sanders, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and scholar Cornel West, past figures considered themselves socialists or promoted socialist goals. Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance and also preached socialism and Christ’s teachings; Albert Einstein blasted capitalism in his essay “Why socialism?” and said capitalism was detrimental to humanity.

Others include journalist George Orwell and author Sam Clemens, philosopher Bertrand Russell and activist Helen Keller, artist Pablo Picasso and revered rebel/statesman Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, who in 1952 wrote, “Capitalism has out-lived its usefulness. We have socialism for the rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor.”

The 2020 documentary “The Big Scary ‘S’ Word,” recalls its rich heritage. Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx corresponded; writers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne tried small colonies built around communal structures; Milwaukee from 1910 to 1960 was governed by socialists (including Carl Sandburg, an aide to socialist Mayor Emil Seidel); socialist Congressman Victor Berger of Wisconsin in 1916 introduced the country’s first proposal for “old-age pensions”; later in the 20th century, socialists such as Norman Thomas and Michael Harrington influenced New Deal and Great Society programs, respectively; and organized labor had avowed socialists Eugene Debs (who got a million votes for U.S. President in 1912) and A. Philip Randolph of the AFL-CIO, a civil rights icon.

U.S. President (and anti-Communist Cold Warrior) Harry S Truman in Syracuse, N.Y., in October 1952 put it best: “Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years. Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called Social Security. Socialism is what they called farm price supports. Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance. Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.

“When the Republican candidate inscribes the slogan ‘Down with Socialism’ on the banner of his ‘great crusade,’ that is really not what he means at all. What he really means is ‘Down with Progress – down with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal,’ and ‘down with Harry Truman's Fair Deal.’ That's all he means.”