Take a look behind the red-baiting rhetoric
Across the planet there are countless flavors of capitalism
and socialism, unique mashups of free markets and government policies. Into
this muddle wade the right-wing ideologues who fear the red “socialist” demon
hiding in every corner.
If Fox News existed in the 1950s, they would’ve labeled
Republican President Dwight Eisenhower a socialist for taxing the wealthy and
making broad public investments to expand homeownership, enable debt-free
higher education, and build infrastructure and technology that expanded the
modern middle class.
Yet, what do these labelers call modern-day China, a country
that mints
hundreds of billionaires a year and dominates global markets with
private production? Are they socialist or capitalist?
Meanwhile, social democracies, like Canada and the northern
European countries, have progressive tax systems and strong social safety nets.
Sweden, with its generous welfare state, has higher
rates of entrepreneurship than the United States.
These countries also have higher rates of social mobility
than the United States — meaning it’s easier for lower-income people to escape
poverty and become stable. The American Dream, apparently, has moved offshore.
These welfare states, with their higher taxes on the
wealthy, exist comfortably alongside healthy market economies. However, in the
United States, whenever a politician proposes that billionaires pay their fair
share of taxes so we make public investments in opportunities for everyone
else, they are labeled socialist or even communist.
These criticisms conflate a set of policy proposals, most of them quite popular, with an economic system where the government owns the means of production. However, this well-trod attack doesn’t seem to be working anymore, especially for younger generations.
Younger voters see the grotesque inequalities of wealth and
power that distort the economy and block opportunity for the non-rich. They
witness how large corporations have captured Congress and blocked popular
reforms to defend consumers and counter monopolies.
They watch with alarm as billionaire-backed private equity
firms buy up healthcare facilities and squeeze consumers in every corner of the
economy. They see how both major political parties have been captured by the
billionaire donor class and failed to address stagnant wages and rising basic
costs.
All generations now understand that the old American Dream
has expired, with
seven in 10 experiencing economic insecurity. These folks still hope hard
work could lead to a decent life — to own a home, take a vacation, pass
opportunities to their children, and retire before they die. They feel the
constant stress of knowing they’re one job loss, illness, disability or divorce
away from living in their car.
Without a strong party representing working people’s
concerns, political realignments are happening in both parties. A new
generation of progressives and a handful of self-described democratic
socialists argue the economy should work for everyone, not just the billionaire
class.
They believe new technologies — such as AI — should serve
everyone, not just billionaire tech bros and their global conglomerates. They
believe the government has an important role in expanding healthcare, blocking
oligarchy and breaking up big corporations.
They advocate for expanding affordable housing to aid people
struggling to find decent housing in a hyper-speculative market. Instead of
subsidizing private developers, they advocate for housing owned by nonprofit
organizations, resident cooperatives, and — egads! — government entities, like
housing authorities.
These progressives believe we should stop subsidizing the
fossil fuel industry and end tax breaks to the Jeffrey Epstein class. They
support investments to help us transition to sustainable energy, lower energy
costs and reduce climate disruption.
The right-wing pundits — and some so-called moderates, too —
are hoping that when they trot out the “socialist” bugaboo, your mind will
freeze and you’ll start frothing at the mouth. They’re afraid that you will
ask why the current system isn’t working and wonder if there
are alternatives. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
When someone brandishes the word “socialism” like it’s a
stink bomb, take a courageous look at the actual ideas — higher taxes on the
rich? Medicare for All? A raise for working people? — being proposed. There
might be more common sense than you thought.
Chuck
Collins directs the Program on Inequality and co-edits Inequality.org
for the Institute for Policy Studies. His latest book is “Burned by
Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and
Planet.” He wrote this for InsideSources.com.