The history of socialism in the US — and why the American dream prevails

Before the 1917 Russian Revolution, socialists in the U.S. were winning hundreds of local and national contests. In Manhattan, a socialist immigrant from Lithuania was sent to Congress in 1915. Milwaukee had three socialist mayors. And in the 1912 presidential election, socialist presidential candidate Eugene Debs received 6% of the popular vote. But socialists couldn't capitalize on these victories. First, an internal split between the revolutionaries and the moderates prevented a united front. Then the increasingly violent nature of the Bolsheviks scared many off. More than all that was America's growing middle class, whose investments in private housing and small businesses were anathema to socialist ideals. The Great Depression of the 1930s revived interest in socialism and spurred some of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's public projects. "This Social Security measure gives at least some protection to 30 millions of our citizens," Roosevelt said when he signed the Social Security Act into law on Aug.14, 1935. Still, these measures fell far short of full-blown socialism. Then came the Cold War, in which any hint of socialism was called out as a direct threat from the Soviets and Communist China. The 1960s saw a revival of radical socialism within the anti-war movement. But as the Vietnam War died down, and later as the Soviet Union collapsed, the socialist left again seemed to be on the wrong side of history. Now comes another wave of American socialism. But as in the past, radicals within the movement are proving to be far more extreme than America's middle class is willing to accept. Again, Middle America's vested interests are tough barriers against socialists' attempts to undo the foundations of the American dream. Now, when you consider that 65% of Americans own their homes, 62% own stock, and 36 million small businesses employ nearly half our workforce, socialist promises to nationalize private property are a tough sell.