Throughout this election season, you most likely have heard the word socialism tossed around in the political discourse.

Here Are 5 Things to Know

1. It is highly unlikely that any new government in the United States would ever become socialist. The word socialism is being used deliberately as a political polarizer to make you vote one way or another. Socialism is an economic and political theory, just like capitalism or communism.

What is capitalism? What is communism?

2.  Capitalism is about the free market – freedom of choice and battle of the products. However, not everyone gets rich, starts with the same amount of money, or pays their fair share of taxes. There is still poverty, unemployment, and greed. Therefore, it is clearly not a perfect system. It is wobbly and a bit unstable – which is why we get market crashes, boom and bust.

3. What about Communism? Overly simplified, communism was designed to stop worker exploitation, greed, and inequality of capitalism. Within communism, there is no private property, and nearly everything is communally owned while everyone gets a slice of what he or she needs. That is if it is run fairly, but it never seems to be the case because it leads to abuse by people at the top who like money, cars, wealth, luxury, and being able to eat. It is not a perfect system, and it is boring! Remember how the Russians lost their minds when McDonalds showed up? 

4. Then there is socialism. It is sort of a grey area between capitalism and communism. A democratic state striving for equality, controlling the resources, the way things are produced, and distributing that prosperity. For example, money – so that everyone can benefit, sort of. Meaning less poverty, but also less individual wealth and more restrictions – scaring those with a lot of money. It is also not a perfect system!

5. Politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Kamala Harris have not suggested the United States become a socialist country. They are just talking about increasing the funding for things like higher education, creating universal healthcare, and, or having a base income. It is not the same thing as turning Americans into socialists. What they are talking about is more a sort of Democratic capitalism, which appeared after World War II to help stop homelessness, poverty, and zero access to medical care. The same conditions the coronavirus pandemic has created.

Socialism is just a term hijacked to scare voters. Some of the most successful economies in the world operate on the democratic capitalist model. Those successful economies include nearly all of Western Europe – countries Americans visit the most and remark, “Wow! What a great place, if only I had the money I’d live here!”