Roughly a century before Bernie Sanders's long-shot run for the White House, another prominent democratic socialist, Eugene V. Debs, waged his own campaigns for the presidency. Although government repression nearly destroyed what had been a vibrant Socialist Party, in 1920 Debs campaigned for the presidency from his prison cell and drew nearly a million votes. His campaigns and the popularity of democratic socialism played a key role in sparking America's major economic and social reforms of the 20th century.
Published Articles by Lawrence Wittner
The shock and disbelief with which many political pundits have responded to Bernie Sanders's description of himself as a democratic socialist provide a clear indication of how little they know about the popularity and influence of democratic socialism in American life.
As American higher education becomes increasingly unaffordable, serious proposals have emerged for tuition-free college. And it's hardly a utopian idea. Public colleges in the United States used to be tuition-free.
Despite the insistence of the nuclear powers that Iran comply with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is pretty clear that the nuclear-armed countries do not consider themselves bound to comply with this landmark international agreement. After all, nearly a half-century after the signing of this treaty, which requires that the nuclear powers divest themselves of their nuclear weapons, they not only still possess 16,000 of them but are engaged in a vast, immensely costly buildup of their nuclear arsenals.
Sadly, long after it has become clear that mass violence is a very counterproductive way to settle disputes, Russians and Americans are still channeling their children into the armed forces and war.
The recent announcement of a nuclear deal with Iran by the United States and other nations should draw our attention to the history of international nuclear arms control and disarmament agreements. That history shows us how important and successful such agreements have been in curbing nuclear proliferation, reducing the number of nuclear weapons, and preventing nuclear war.
Polls indicate that there is a widespread concern among Americans about the existence of economic inequality in the United States, as well as a widespread desire for government action to reduce it.
Although Christianity is a religion that professes love and peace, most white Evangelical Protestants in the United States have an enormous enthusiasm for guns.
Democratic socialism, which a century ago had considerable popularity in American politics, has been out of favor in more recent decades. Nevertheless, the surprising strength of the candidacy of Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Presidential nomination indicates that it may be undergoing a revival in the United States. At the least, a good showing by Sanders could strengthen the democratic socialist current in American life.
In 2013, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo initiated Start-Up NY -- a much ballyhooed program granting private businesses tax-free status-- with the promise that it would "supercharge" the state's economy and create thousands of new jobs. Nevertheless, despite many millions of dollars of taxpayers' money spent on the program, it created only 76 jobs during the following year. Using public funds to rehire the thousands of teachers laid off thanks to severe cutbacks in state funding for education would be a much better investment.