Democratic socialism is not, and has no relationship to, communism as it was experienced in the USSR or China last century. It does not involve authoritarian rule, government ownership of business, or stifle individual initiative. The comparison to communism is propaganda from extremist free marketeers trying to protect their privilege as wealthy elites and the exploitive advantages of corporations.
Democratic socialism advocates for democracy in all aspects of society, including more democracy in the workplace. It is the type of economic system experienced in the countries that have the highest quality of life index. Many European countries, particularly the Scandinavian countries, and Canada have moved significantly in this direction. These countries are more egalitarian, have a better safety net, high standard of living, low crime, good education and healthcare.
The inequality and financial speculation of the previous gilded age precipitated the Great Depression. Because of the suffering caused by the Great Depression we moved significantly toward democratic socialism. Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president started the social programs that ended the depression, won WWII and began Social Security. He was so popular he was elected to four terms as president. We had another flirtation with democratic socialism during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency. He began Medicare, the war on poverty and passed the Civil Rights Act which outlawed discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin.
Democratic socialism does not do away with markets. It does not do away with private ownership. It likely would mean more cooperatives, more workers on corporate boards, more democracy in the management of businesses and stronger unions.
Something else to consider is a maximum wage. Under existing conditions the less workers are paid the more management and capital makes. So to maximize management bonuses and return to shareholders, wages are kept as low as possible. After correcting for inflation, wages have been stagnant since 1980. Meanwhile CEO pay and stock returns have skyrocketed. If CEO’s pay was tied to the pay of the lowest paid worker in the company, say 20 times that workers pay, there would be an incentive to raise wages. This is one way to stop worker exploitation and decrease the wealth gap. A more progressive tax system is also required. In the U.S., three people have as much wealth as the bottom 190 million people. The top .1% own as much as the bottom 90%.
Our current system is antithetical to democracy, especially if money is speech as some claim. The rich and powerful buy politicians and the rest of us live with the consequences. That is what happened in Flint, Mich., where thousands of children were poisoned. It is happening with climate change when fossil fuel executives and owners buy politicians that will deregulate pollution, give tax breaks and subsidies to billionaires. Climate change is the result of how capitalism fails to value the environment. Bailing out banks and sticking us with the bill is another example. We socialize the costs and privatize the profits. This is not what people would choose in a democracy. “We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Louis Brandeis.
There is also incongruence between our current system and sustainability. Continuous growth of consumption on a finite planet is a lie as any logical person understands. Even happiness is discouraged by our system because marketing is ineffective if people are satisfied. Record numbers of overdoses, suicides, use of psychotropic meds, addiction and our politics of fear are proof of this unhappiness.
One need only look at the meaning of the words themselves. Capitalism serves capital. Socialism serves social interests.
Markets are not forces of nature. We don’t have to create winners and losers. Markets are man-made constructs that can be altered to better serve society. If the current system isn’t working, try something different.
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