What is Socialism? Is America Really Headed Towards It?

A Brief History of Socialism in America


By Alan Gibson and Hannah Mathiot

We can advocate for the end of socialism in America, but unless we fully understand what socialism is, how it got into the country, what effects the movements have had, we cannot work to destroy it. The Health Care Law, is a huge step towards socialism, but it is one of the last in a series of other steps that have been creeping into our country for generations.

But what exactly is socialism? The first known form of socialism is communalism, a political theory advocated by Plato. Plato’s theory rested on the foundation that men are property of the state. According to Plato, some men are superior to others, which gives them the right to rule in a society. The practical application of this belief involved the taking of children from parents at birth to be trained by state educators, choosing jobs for the children when they came of age, abolishing marriage, and the outlaw of all artists and musicians. If you lived in Plato’s society, you would have to dress exactly like everyone else, eat the same type and amount of food as everyone else in communal cafeterias, and believe basically the same thing. Functionally, you would become part of a collective people who function as a single, like-minded body.

Plato’s goal was to accomplish a perfect union, and from his ideas sprung the Nazi movement. Since Plato, socialism has been supported and promoted by many philosophers, such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the founders of Communism. The principles of Communism, as stated by these two philosophers, are as follows:

“The expropriation of landed property and the use of rent from land to cover state expenditure;
A high and progressively graded income-tax;
A abolition of the right of inheritance;
The confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels;
The centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by the establishment of a state bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly;
The centralization of transport in the hands of the state;
An increase in the state ownership of factories and instruments of production, and the redistribution and amelioration of agricultural land on a general plan;
Universal obligation to work and creation of labour armies especially for agriculture;
he unification of agricultural with industrial labour, and the gradual abolition of the differences between town and country;
The public education of all children. Abolition of factory labour for children in its present form. Unification of education with economic production.”

Countries all over the world have adopted these principles. The US is not exempt.

Socialism was first tried in the United States in Jamestown, where one was not allowed to own private property and the fruits of all of one’s labor went into a common store for the benefit of the whole society. It did not last long.

Nonetheless, socialist supporters have made great progress in turning the United states into a socialist country. Eugene V. Debs was a socialist union organizer from Indiana, who helped to found the Social Democratic Party of America, which later became the Socialist Party of America. He also founded the Industrial Workers of the World (or IWW). The idea of the IWW is best stated by their explanation of why you should join:

“Workers and their employers do not have the same interests. Workers want shorter hours, higher pay, and better benefits. The easiest way to stand up for each other in our workplaces and communities and the easiest way to improve our working conditions is to join a union.”

The workers in league with this union are thinking like consumers. Like the “more for less” consumer desires, these workers want more pay and better benefits, all for less work. The mentality produced is that the employer should be working for their good, not that they should be working with him for the company. This employer vs. employee mentality is one of the many situations where socialistic ideas thrive.

Robert M. La Follette –also known as “Battlin’ Bob- was the leader of the Progressive movement, which is a movement that is fundamentally similar to socialism. He introduced legislation concerning taxing and regulating railroads. He claimed to protect the people from the selfish interests of the few industrialists he saw in positions of power, and while running for president, he gained the support of the Socialist Party.

Another Progressive who furthered the progress of socialism was John Dewey. Dewey brought evolution into the school system, but he is best remembered as the “Father of Progressive Education.” Progressive educators champion a democracy in which all members participate in important decisions. They claim to respect diversity of individual children and to support socialization as a method of schooling. Dewey’s Progressive theory is based on the idea that, since the community is declining in supporting these ideas, the school should make up for it. The Progressives stressed the arts and emotions over the scientific and intellectual approach. To enforce these ideas, they sought to do away with the grading system.

A notable figure in the history of the advancement of socialism is William Jennings Bryan. It was his influence on the Democratic Party that caused the Party to change from the Jacksonian ideal (now known as classical liberalism) to the modern liberal stand today. Bryan held many socialistic goals, such as the free coinage of silver (weakening the gold standard), the elimination of high protective tariffs, a graduated income tax, popular election of Senators, and world peace. He helped get President Wilson in office and was appointed by Wilson to the position of Secretary of State. When America declared war, Bryan stood by his stand for peace and resigned his office.

W.E.B. Du Bois, an influential writer of his time, was a black man from Massachusetts who fought against racism, but also against capitalism. He was a gifted student and after graduating from Harvard with a Master’s degree, he studied abroad at the University of Berlin and acquired a doctorate in History. Du Bois studied philosophy, history, sociology, and economics while in college. He was a teacher, and a writer, and considered to be the “Father of Social Science.” The “Niagara Movement” he founded later became NAACP, which has worked to advance socialist movements. Influenced by the Russian system at the time, he became a communist. He was a member of the Socialist and American Labor Parties. He incorporated many of his socialistic ideas into his books, which were very influential at the time, and thus added weight to the socialist movement. Before his death, he immigrated to Ghana and joined the Ghana Communist Party.

There are two presidents that have made significant contributions to the growth of socialism. Herbert Hoover was a president who passed major socialist legislation. At one point in his life donated food to the USSR, saying that he wanted to help people regardless of politics. This is a very dangerous attitude that dismisses the idea that the food he had given to support the poor may also have gone into the communist’s pantries and encouraged them to continue to starve the people of Russia. The USSR, who was dependent on these free supplies for its survival, survived only for the purpose of enforcing communism on the people, which was exactly what was starving them in the first place.

During his campaign as the Republican Candidate for president, he said, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land." A few months later, the stock market crashed.

He also introduced a bill that making a Reconstruction Finance Corporation, who would give money to failing businesses, farmers with foreclosed mortgages, reform banks, loan money to states to feed the unemployed, and expand public works. Can anyone say, “First stimulus bill?” These are all very socialist causes. The idea of giving money to those who are incapable of earning is based on the assumption that those people will become responsible and get back up on their feet. However, what usually happens is that the money is going to a business or person who does not no how to keep afloat, and will never learn as long as they are being supported by others.

Hoover was also a strong supporter of prohibition, which is one of the greatest forms of socialism introduced in the US. It is only in socialism that it becomes the government’s job to tell adults what they can and cannot drink. Prohibition has since been repealed, and, due to its good intentions, is generally overlooked or even applauded historically. Hoover’s saving grace is that he warned against the New Deal.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (known as FDR) was most well known for establishing the New Deal, but he also established the Works Progress Administration, in which unemployed members work for the government, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which gave jobs to youth. Unfortunately, these groups became known for “making work.” It was said that one team came to dig a ditch, and another came to fill it in. FDR passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act, National Recovery Administration, Social Security Act, National Labor Relations Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Emergency Banking Relief Act. All of these acts moved America towards socialism.

The best way to destroy a country is to destroy it slowly. Small steps towards destruction are far easier to take than giant leaps. That is why the acts moving the U.S. towards socialism have been spread out through history. No, the Health Care Law is not the first, and if the citizens keep quiet, it will not be the last.

The Interstate Commerce Act was passed in 1887. It was designed to regulate the railroad companies, who were responsible for most of the shipping in the U.S. The bill’s effect was that the government determined the “fair and just” shipping rates. It was also meant to abolish secret rebates, and stop railroads from discriminating against smaller markets. The railroads were now far more limited in how they ran their business. The government kept an eye on them to make sure they didn’t exercise their judgment in a way that would be less profitable to certain other markets. Another weakness is that the justification for the bill has not been checked, so the Interstate Commerce Commission lives on, with additional duties. The ideas in this bill were entirely socialistic.

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. Section 1states, “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal.” It goes on to say that violation of this is a felony with fines of up to$10,000,000 for corporations and $350,000 for people, as well as up to three years in prison. The act makes it illegal “to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations.” Limiting the size and the success legal for corporations.

As you may see, this is blatant socialism! They regulate businesses so that they can’t make deals and contracts to drive out all competition in the area. This kind of competition in the business world is necessary for the survival, and the growth of each. The act also makes it illegal to have a monopoly of a certain market. A buisness with a monopoly over it's market get’s fined, and its executives go to jail.

The Hepburn Act of 1906 added power to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) by putting more regulation of railroad rates under its control.

The Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 gave the ICC the power to fix and suspend railroad rates; to control radio, telegraph, and telegram lines; and a court was established to examine cases of appeal as a check on this power. Unfortunately, this court was disbanded in 1913. What kind of legislation is it that gives a government agency the power to fix railroad rates and control communication lines? It’s certainly not the capitalism we were founded with! Control of communications gives the government control over our lives by letting them listen in on our private conversations. Apparently, with regards to the telephone, don’t say anything you wouldn’t want Big Brother to hear!

The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 stated that "unfair methods of competition ... and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful." It also set up the FTC to ensure these laws were followed. The FTC was divided into the Consumer Protection and Competition Bureaus. The FTC had the right to declare what unfair and deceptive practices or methods are. One can quickly see what this could lead to-the government can limit the way a business can be run by condemning certain business practices unfair and deceptive. The accused does have one resort other than to stop the practice-it can appeal to the courts. The problem is the question, “who determines the judges’ salaries?” The federal government. Who can appoint them to higher offices? The federal government. Some protection.

In 1933 three major socialistic acts were passed in this year. They are the Emergency Banking Relief Act, Agricultural Adjustment Act, and the National Recovery Administration .The Emergency Banking Relief Act gives the government the power to take away the gold belonging to a privet civilian in exchange for it’s value in paper money. If a civilian willfully violates this authority, he can be charged up to $10,000, and imprisoned for up to ten years.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act offered money to farmers if they agreed not to produce these products on their lands: corn, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, tobacco and milk. It was explicitly stated by Congress that the intent of the bill was to regulate supply and demand. Although the law was declared unconstitutional in 1937, Congress rewrote it and passed it again, and the law stands today.

The Encyclopedia Britannica states that the National Recovery Administration gave the president the power to “institute industry-wide codes intended to eliminate unfair trade practices, reduce unemployment, establish minimum wages and maximum hours, and guarantee the right of labour to bargain collectively.” It was used to control wages, prices, and limit competition so that jobs could be retained. The government seems to have forgotten that it’s not their job to make sure that we the individual keep his job.

The Social Security Act of 1935 “established a system of old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind, and the physically handicapped.” This is yet another example of the government telling the individual that he cannot take care of himself, and taking on the responsibility of systemizing his care. Functionally, the government says to the citizen, “I can take care of you better than you can.”

Originally, the system was voluntary in that it only applied to certain career fields as a limit. That limit did not last very long.

The National Labor Relations Act encouraged unions to gain power and use collective bargaining by setting up rights of the employee, employer, and union. The act made it illegal for an employer to fire a union member because he is a union member. What happened to the doctrine that the employer can fire the employee for any reason so long as he gives sufficient notice? After all, why should an employer keep an employee who, for whatever reason, he feels that he can’t trust? The employee has the right to leave his job and find a new job if he doesn’t like the way the employer runs his business. But an employer can’t make an employee leave the employee joins an organization that could work against the interests of the company. Is that Justice? Is that capitalism?

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 required a minimum wage for all people, overtime of at least one and a half times the normal wage, limits working hours for children under 16, and denies certain “dangerous” jobs to children under 18. Since when have we let our government decide what jobs are and are not safe for our children?

Also the government now mandates what an employee’s working time per week should be, and how much they get paid, and how much more they get paid for working over the limit set for them. The fingers of the government are closing around businesses as they enforce more and more regulations and rules on them. One has to wonder why we have let it come this far.

Minimum wage also hurts more than helps. When businesses determine prices, they add in all that they spend, including wages, divide it among their products, and add a little for profit. If businesses are required to pay a minimum wage, prices go up. If all businesses paid an average of two dollars an hour but also lowered prices accordingly, the effect would counterbalance.

Now we know what socialism is and that it’s in this country, but what makes this a bad development. Couldn’t it all be for the betterment of society? If we look through the pages of our history books we will wee countless examples of socialism rising up in countries all over the world, and tearing them into complete ruin. The reason it has never worked: its ideals are based off of an incorrect assumption of human nature.

Socialists believe that society can perfect men. Through giving him the right environment, his behavior will also be perfected. They say that the right environment for mankind is one in which he is not an individual, but a part of a collective, united with the minds of his fellow citizens under the authority of his betters, working for the commonwealth of society. And let’s not forget the Karl Marx’s words, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”

It would probably work if the ones with abilities didn’t suddenly become the ones with needs when they discovered that they no longer gained anything by working for everyone else.

The only way society can unite men is to control the minds of men, something that no one has ever managed to do (even hypnosis is limited) or get rid of all dissenters, which is impossible. Since man’s nature has been proven through the lives of every human on earth -save one- to be imperfect, and no society has ever succeeded in changing that human nature, it is ridiculous that we should think that a government who regulates our lifestyles can change our inner natures for the better.

Still not convinced? There are literally hundreds of cities and countries that were socialist and crumbled because of it. Even in America there were certain socialist experiments tried in cities.

The first American city to experiment with socialism was also our first permanent city-mainly because it learned from its failure and adopted more capitalist measures. The city was Jamestown, Virginia. Jamestown had a common store system in which every colonist was supposed to deposit the food they harvested. The food was then to be divided among all the colonists. In practice, most of the colonists looked for gold and assumed that everyone else would feed them. The first time Captain Smith was governor, the system worked because the colonists got their food from the Indians. When Captain Smith left, there were 490colonists. But the colonists did not save food in their common store in the winter. When new commissioners came, there were 60colonists left. The new commissioners decided that the colonists needed to move to Newfoundland and left. On the way, however, they met Lord Delaware, who had supplies and new immigrants. Jamestown only achieved success after the introduction of tobacco –which was farmed by John Rolfe and opened trade with the Indians for food- and after they changed the government to a senate-like structure and a Governor as opposed to 13 council members. The common store idea quickly disappeared.

But America was not finished trying. New Harmony, Indiana was a communalistic society owned by Robert Owen (who bought it from Harmonie owners in 1825). It got the best and brightest of the time-renowned scientists, sociologists, philosophers,etc. By 1827, the communalist aspect of the society was dead and Owen had moved back to Scotland. Only William Maclure’s school for the orphans lasted from the original socialist platform.

And of course, there was Brook Farm: a transcendentalist colony that lasted from 1841 until1847. Brook Farm was supposed to be an ideal transcendental colony. It was designed as an escape from the financial troubles of the world outside. In the colony, everyone could do the work he liked best, but all participated in the farming. It employed what we would call Progressive teaching and encouraged families to join it. In the area of farming, however, Brook Farm took a communalist approach in which everyone was treated the same, no matter how much work they did. The farming failed due to lack of workers and poor soil, and the colony started to run out of food. On top of that, the smallpox epidemic of 1845weakened the colony significantly. Finally, under the influence of French socialist Charles Fourier, the colony built the Phalanstery, which burned down days after it was complete. The colony was pretty much defeated by then, and it was deep in debt. The people moved away, the land was sold, and the colony breathed its last. The only original building to survive was the Hive, the meeting place of the colonists. Since then, the colony has been rebuilt as a historic landmark of a failed American attempt at a Utopia.

So we see that socialism has not worked in the US. Maybe this is just a result of the people here. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that the people ruined the experiments, but it could work well elsewhere. Well, one cannot dismiss the validity of this argument, so let’s see if foreign examples lend weight to this argument.

Let’s focus with the best known example, the United Soviet Socialist Republic. The Soviet Union collapsed, in 1991, a mere 74 years after it began. What led up to this collapse? One thing was the spending on the arms race-the spending far outpaced the tax revenue. Sound familiar? Maybe we should make sure our politicians know of this. The overspending led to a depression in an already starving country, causing more starvation and sickness. Besides that, the fall of Afghanistan weakened the Soviets.

However, one of the deciding factors was Gorbachev’s introduction of Glasnost. When the people saw that Communism was not the only way, they demanded more and more freedom, leading to the dissolving of the Communist state.

Next, let’s see the People’s Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. It collapsed in 1992, 14 years after it started. The revolution was started against the reigning “president” (a member of the royal family who had overthrown his relative) and was known as the Great Saur Revolution. People fled the new Afghan government, which lessened its workforce. In 1986, the Afghan citizens managed to elect a non-party president. This marked the beginning of the end. The real blow, however, was the Soviet decision to withdraw in 1988 due to the cost of up keeping the “Afghan venture.” The cost was related with the ongoing “civil war” of guerilla warfare, which involved as many as 5 million Afghans. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Afghan government lost all of the aid, monetary and military, that it was receiving from the Soviet Union. The rebels also lost the aid of the US in overthrowing the government. To make matters worse for the Afghan government, Russia started funding the rebels and the Afghan government was short on food and fuel, leading to the overthrow of the People’s Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Take this home with you today: Socialism is the belief that the whole is more valuable than the parts, and that the parts must feed the whole. It is the belief that humans don’t have the natural rights to think for themselves or the rights to take care of themselves. It is a lie, and it is the monster that has destroyed many nations that could have been great. It has never worked, it never will work, but America is reaching out for it nonetheless. It can be stopped, but you, citizen, are going to have to scream very loudly in order to stop it.
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