Socialism Is No Longer a Dirty Word in America
For much of my lifetime ‘socialism’ was inevitably connected to ‘communism,’ although the two hardly shared the same ideological bed. It’s often that way with ‘isms.’
And it’s confusing, because the ‘social’ half of socialism sounds easy enough to the ear, but it’s clouded by association.
Socialism is not communism, and never has been. It’s the political system of the Nordic countries that most people aspire to, and would like to live in. Unfortunately for those of us who would like to join the creator of IKEA, they have pretty strict immigration quotas.
And yet…and yet, there remain the bad-boys of ismhood in society. I guess we might call them ‘associationalisms:’ racism, fascism, nationalism, and the like. They cloud the definition and don’t do a damn thing to promote what’s happening in American politics at the moment.
As was once said on radio and television, “and now we pause for a moment for a commercial message.”
You may now stop reading for that moment, take a quick bathroom break, or get a cup of coffee.
If you stayed with me, I hope you will agree that America has long been a partially socialist enterprise, and that the trend is gaining ground. In fact, we’re beginning to worry about keeping parts of it, such as Social Security and Medicare, in working order.
But other examples are rampant, from Eisenhower’s national highway system to the more common roads and bridges: The national electric grid is another example, owned and maintained collectively through public tax dollars.
FDR opened the floodgates in the 1930s, to pull America out of its worst ever depression.
Creating the Civilian Conservation Corps, Agricultural Adjustment Act, Tennessee Valley Authority, Emergency Banking Relief Act, Public Works Administration, and other programs, he literally forced legislation through congress like a football linebacker, no matter his wheelchair.
Water and sewer systems, including wastewater treatment facilities are publicly owned and managed for community health rather than private profit. The Postal Service operates as a universal public service for mail and parcel delivery. Then there’s public transit and utilities, public power companies, and regional authorities like the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Bank of North Dakota is a rare state-owned public bank established during the era of agrarian populism and early American socialism. State and locally-funded K-12 public schools, state universities, and community colleges provide tuition-reduced or tuition-free entry, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, police and fire departments, public libraries, and the military in all its branches are further examples.
And, in a seeming nation-wide acceptance of the word itself, we now have a Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) party winning political races.
The national Democratic Socialists of America and its local chapters endorsed 164 candidates in 32 states and the District of Columbia in the mid-term elections just past. One in the Senate, 10 in the House of Representatives, 64 in state legislatures, and 89 for local offices. They also took positions on 72 state and local ballot measures.
According to the Washington Post, as of yesterday, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) report 107 endorsed candidates winning elections in the midterms, with two additional candidates headed to runoffs.
Hold on, there’s more…
DSA-backed candidates also won dozens of state legislative seats and important mayoral races, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. They secured two female governors, one of whom was the first native American to hold the post, and the other the first Black governor.
The political significance (according to WaPo) is that DSA has substantially expanded its representation, particularly in reliably Democratic districts. However, none of its congressional candidates flipped a Republican-held House seat.
The political significance to me, is that Democratic Socialists are winning against regular democrats.
The Democratic National Committee, the same brilliant people who turned away from Bernie Sanders in 2016, because “it was Hillary’s turn,” have turned themselves inside out to deny a socialist movement within their party. I’m not really sure why, but there are apparently a lot of ‘center’ oriented democrats concerned about woke issues.
It ain’t workin.’
Woke is temporarily over as a political movement.
America has finally awakened, as from a long, dark dream.
Rather than spend what little gas it had left in the tank, trying to dissuade an eager and refreshing new brand of democrats, the DNC might look in the mirror and ask itself why it entered the mid-terms $5 million in debt, facing a RNC with bales of available cash.
Adjusting their eye-shadow and powdering their nose, they might also wonder why 40% of the American electorate identifies as independent and generally stays home on election day.
Which, by the way, is perfectly fine with the billionaire class that has recently come to run America.
Yeah.
Those dudes, and their dudesses, who stood on either side of a president who would cut the taxes they already avoid, even further, were all smiles (and cash in hand) at Trump’s inauguration..
Welcome to how far America had fallen. Mamdani in New York, and others like him, are pointing the way to an American rebirth.
It’s a test folks, as America has never been tested before.
And the billionaire newspaper owners and billionaire media freaks would love to have you believe it was all about tariffs and Iran and gasoline prices.
It wasn’t.
Not even close.
It was about American values…
Let the Democratic National Committee put that in their half-lit pipe and try to smoke it…
…meanwhile, we have two more years to sweat.