Socialism

Socialism was an ideology that was intended to give hope and the chance of equality for all Americans, especially the lower class citizens who struggled to prosper in society. Socialism gained popularity and acceptance by the blue collar social class and others. Socialism attempted to spread the message that the inequalities in the distribution of wealth needed to be reformed and made equally obtainable by all citizens of the United States. The message was lost over the years and the party seemed to dissolve into the political mainstream.

Socialism is a political ideology, as described by Dictionary.com (n.d.), is "a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole" (v 1.1,¶ 1). This ideology held that the government should take control of economic enterprise in which the result would have produced equality among citizens over equality of opportunity. Socialists emphasize equality among men, women, different races, and focused on "grass roots activism" (Peters, D., 2008, ¶4). Although this seemed much like Communism, Socialists are committed to the ideals of democracy.

Increasing acceptance of Socialism led, Eugene Debs, the leader of the socialist movement, to run for President of the United States but lost the election. This ideology was the basis for the founding of The Socialist Party of America early in the 1900's this was due to a merge of members of the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Labor Party of America (Peters, D., 2008). The blue collar workers liked the idea of being able to rise above the limitations of their social class and this gave them hope of prospering. This ideology began to become popular, especially among the working class, but did not last long due to the conflict of views concerning World War I and the revolution going on in Russia during this time (Coop, T., 2008).

Socialism began to lose acceptance and members a little more than 10 years after the founding of socialism (Coop, T., 2008). People began to group socialists with the communist's party. Leaders of the socialism group were arrested and this included Eugene Debs (Coop, T., 2008). After this incident socialism began to fall apart and dissolve into the political parties. Many of the remaining socialists began to conform to other political party's ideologies such as that of the Republicans and Democratic. Others that remained faithful to the concepts of socialism turned to the "extreme right" such as that of the "National socialists Movement that wants to restore socialism in the mold of Hitler's Germany" (Coop, T., 2008, ¶7). This was not the intent of Debs. Debs wished to spread the message that this nation is too great to have so many living in poverty.

The message of the founders of Socialism has been lost and twisted from the original intent of the political ideology. As stated by Darian Peters (2008), "US politics, rather than being seen as a two-party system in the greatest democracy on Earth' is seen more as a one-party state with no prospect of minority parties, who represent genuine political alternatives..." "...having any chance of success for the foreseeable future" (¶6). The message of Socialism was that the distribution of wealth should be equalized amongst the citizens of the United States was lost over the years. Now, Socialism has little influence in the political arena within the United States and has seemed to have dissolved into the political mainstream of America.

Reference

Coop, T. (2008). History of socialism in the United States. Retrieved July 18, 2008 from, web site: http://www.helium.com/items/346305-history-of-socialism-in-the-united-states

Peters, D. (2008). History of socialism in the United States. Retrieved July 18, 2008 from, web site: http://www.helium.com/items/349128-history-of-socialism-in-the-united-states

socialism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved July 18, 2008, from Dictionary.com web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socialism