Is Socialism Still a Bad Word… or Inevitable?

Is Socialism Still a Bad Word… or Inevitable?

“[Socialism is a] social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.” 

Britannica

“A social program is a set of coordinated actions that aim to improve the quality of life of a specific group of people. In general, these are programs that seek to meet the basic needs of the population, such as education, health, employment and social welfare. Social programs may be directed at the entire population or at specific groups, such as children, the elderly, women, etc. In some cases, social programs are aimed at assisting victims of certain situations, such as natural disasters or armed conflicts.” 

UniProyecta

Literacy has been a long-standing problem as our public schools continue to fall in comparison to those in other developed nations. You can thus assume that political leaders misuse terms because they truly do not understand what they mean, or, more likely, know that there are enough voters out there willing to confuse meaning to the advantage of the politician. For older voters, living through the “red scare” of the 1950s, the “duck and cover” 1960s facing rising of communism, and the “domino theory” of the 1970s as the Cold War sent a shiver of “they’re coming for us.” But for Millennials, Gen Z and the rising Alpha Generation, all under age 40 who already make up over half of the US population, the Berlin Wall and the fall of European communism happened “before our time.” “Communism” and “socialism” morphed from existential threats to mere words.

House representative AOC, NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and US Senator Bernie Sanders are major American political leaders of all ages who have openly embraced socialist policies that would have sent FBI agents, with handcuffs dangling, to their doors had they expressed these political beliefs back in the 1950s. Over 40 voters, particularly Boomer and older, are more likely to respond negatively to this message… and the words “creeping socialism” – now embedded in Republican doctrine as part of their new political gospel – are almost certain to elicit a strong negative reaction. “Communist,” “socialist,” “the radical left” are the most vicious words most Republicans can hurl at their Democratic opponents. And hurl they do, incessantly. But to younger voters, these are just words expressing political preferences.

Ever since FDR’s “New Deal” legislation of the 1930s, which gave rise to Social Security, Republicans have dreamed of a complete and total rejection of all such New Deal legislation, from these benefits to government regulatory agencies. And they call all the stuff they hate “creeping socialism,” forcing their constituents to conflate “socialism” with “social programs,” even as these older Americans benefit the most from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I remember one angry Boomer quoted as saying, “Keep government out of my Social Security.”

But if you read the definitions above, the differences between “socialism” and “social programs” appear to be even wider than the differences between “rural” and “urban.” Some of the Trump 1.0 Education Secretary Betsy DeVol school of ignorance even view public education, which has been with us for hundreds of years, as socialism that needs to be cut from the body politic like a malignant tumor.

But artificial intelligence is coming for our jobs. Writing for the June 18th FastCompany.com, Michael Grothaus was stunned when an “AI first” memo from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy asked this question: “Who is going to shop at Amazon once AI takes all our jobs?” “AI might be a good worker—and great for a company’s bottom line—but it’s the worst customer a company could ask for… So if AI can’t buy Amazon’s stuff, and human workers are now unemployable because AI took their jobs, who shops at Amazon, then?... That’s something that none of the CEOs—who seem so determined to be seen as AI thought leaders every time they rattle off one of these AI love letters—ever address in these memos.

“If there’s one thing that humans can take heart in—at least for now—it’s that some companies that have already announced their plans to go all in on AI at the expense of their employees’ livelihoods have faced public backlash for it. But I think that’s a ‘problem’ companies may solve as AI advances… As for what happens to these companies’ bottom lines once consumers can no longer afford to buy their products because AI has taken their jobs? Well, I’m still waiting to hear CEOs offer a solution to that problem.” When you recognize that only big corporations and rich people own all those AI driven machines and software, the problem gets bigger.

It does seem as if the future holds some uncomfortable combination of capitalism and socialism that will be forced into existence, the battle lines weakening as the younger generation take over. But as we can see right now, to generate tax cuts for the rich, Republicans want to do away even with our most basic social programs… not by cutting the benefits but by redesigning the programs and how they are funded to watch them self-destruct. Social Security was created in a time when there were over 40 active workers for each retiree that was paid out such government retirement benefits. The payroll tax scheme was an easy funding plan. Today, with three active workers for every such retiree, that payroll tax structure no longer works… but keeping that funding plan in place ensures that Social Security, Medicare, etc. will unravel and end on their own.

Fatima Hussein, writing for the June 19th Associated Press, points out this archaic funding mechanism is currently unraveling: “The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security trust funds have moved up as rising healthcare costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to earlier projected depletion dates, according to an annual report released Wednesday [6/18].

“The go-broke date — or the date when the programs will no longer have enough funds to pay full benefits — was pushed up to 2033 for Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund, according to the new report from the programs’ trustees. Last year’s report put the go-broke date at 2036.

“Meanwhile, Social Security’s trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034, instead of last year’s estimate of 2035. After that point, Social Security would only be able to pay 81% of benefits.

“The trustees say the latest findings show the urgency of needed changes to the programs, which have faced dire financial projections for decades. But making changes to the programs has long been politically unpopular, and lawmakers have repeatedly kicked Social Security and Medicare’s troubling math to the next generation.” We no longer fly in biplanes or use dial-up wired landlines. Simple technology is not the only area that needs updating as we approach the century mark for some of these programs.

I’m Peter Dekom, and even these seemingly insoluble problems are clear and easy fixes when you address the obvious… even if rich people do not like the fix.