Feb 14, 2022 2 min read

American socialism is misunderstood.

Many Americans react negatively to the idea of socialism because they associate it with the USSR during the Cold War. People feared the USSR, and because the USSR practiced socialism, they feared socialism.

This argument is flawed. Yes, we had reason to fear the USSR – not because of their embrace of socialism, but because of their militaristic belligerence (they were a nuclear power). We have reason to fear Russia today because of their continued saber-rattling, but they do not practice socialism the way that they did back then.

Democratic socialism is not to be feared; it is a crucial tool used by Western Democracies to deliver services to their citizens.

Democracies do not have to choose between socialism or capitalism. Democracies use a capitalist approach for much (probably most) of their economic activity, and they use a socialist approach for important activities (such as education and infrastructure) where it simply works better than capitalism does.

The socialist approach educates nearly 100% of our children, whereas a private-enterprise (i.e., capitalist) approach would reach only those able to pay private school tuition. The socialist approach provides roads for all of us to use, whereas a capitalist approach would require payments to drive.

Western democracies differ from each other in how much they use the socialist approach. Scandinavian countries use it for more functions than we do (primarily for universal health care), but they are no less democratic than we are.

Lysa Holland

Boalsburg

Diane Ebken

Port Matilda