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Americans can’t seem to get on the same page when it comes to what defines socialism even though new polling shows the movement’s favorability is at an all-time high.
Whether far-left factions are able to rally around the label could come down to understand its principles.
Digital took to the streets of a Maryland liberal hotspot, Takoma Park, for its annual street festival to talk with attendees about their definitions of socialism and how far they would be willing to go to embrace its ideals.
“The fact is that there’s no…one answer,” Nina Gilden Seavey said when asked to define socialism.
“Just the idea of like, you’ve been paying all these things to set up these programs and then you’re actually giving them to the people,” Jaw Blake said describing his view of the political movement. “It’s not a special group that gets to have them, it’s just available.”
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Washington D.C. resident Karen Irwin wears an “Auntifa” shirt that reads “making White men uncomfortable since 1975” while speaking to Digital about her perception of socialism at Takoma Park Street Festival. (Hannah Brennan/ Digital)
Jenny Sniderman had a more direct answer, claiming that “public libraries, the police department, the fire department, all our public services, utilities,” are all part of what makes up socialism.
A September Gallup poll found that 43% of Americans have a positive image of socialism — the highest level since the polling organization began tracking the question in 2010.
But the survey asks respondents their image of socialism without providing a definition of the ideology or asking whether they would actually support adopting it in the U.S.
The same festival-goers were pressed on socialism as an economic system, questioning their favorability of collective ownership. They shared some skepticism when Digital asked whether they would personally surrender their private property to government or collective control.
“Do I want to give up my private property? Of course I don’t want to give up my private property,” Sniderman said. “Are they going to reimburse me fairly? That would be helpful in making my choice.”
“I don’t know that I would necessarily love it,” Blake said. “But I mean, if it was something that was beneficial, I’d at least consider it.”
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Maryland resident Jaw Blake speaks with Digital about giving up housing to shelter homeless people in a conversation about his perception of socialism at Takoma Park Street Festival. (Hannah Brennan/ Digital)
“Nobody wants what they have to be taken away from them,” he continued. “But there is something to be said about…you can set up things so that they’re available for everybody.”
“I think the government is not the greatest steward…of assets,” Seavey said. “It’s not to say that capitalism is somehow without flaw, but the fact is that there is an idealism that can come from thinking, ‘Oh, if we had some more centrality, if…there was some kind of uber organization in charge of reallocation.'”
Documentary filmmaker and self-described historian Seavey also questioned the idea of government control over private assets, but argued that the growing democratic socialist movement in the U.S. should not be confused with traditional socialism.
“This is not socialism. This is democratic socialism. It’s different. There’s socialism, there’s communism, there are all kinds of ‘isms.’ Democratic socialism is essentially what we have a growing movement in this country,” Seavey said.
“Socialism is where there is a massive redistribution of wealth. We are not having redistribution of wealth in this country.”
But the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the U.S., advocates redistributing wealth from wealthy individuals and corporations to workers and lower-income Americans. The DSA also calls for public stake in major corporations and essential industries rather than private ownership.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 01: Members of the Democratic Socialists of America gather outside of a Trump owned building on May Day on May 01, 2019 in New York City. Around the country and the world people are marching and demonstrating for better working conditions, higher salaries, maternity leave, minimum wage and other quality of life demands on the traditional day for labor solidarity. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America)
The differing interpretations among festival-goers reflect a broader debate over what socialism means in America — one that has taken on new political significance as socialist candidates gain ground within the Democratic Party heading into midterm elections.
In a 2018 survey asking Americans to define socialism in their own words, just 17% described it in terms of government ownership or control of businesses or the means of production. Another 23% associated it with equality, while 10% pointed to social benefits and services. Nearly a quarter could not provide an answer.
Seavey argued that political labels themselves have distorted the conversation.
“Let’s think about it differently and let’s take away these ridiculous stigmas that have to do with these crazy labels that we have allowed the right wing to foment onto the rest of America,” Seavey said.
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But as socialist-aligned candidates compete for office, the growing movement raises a question that favorable polling alone cannot answer: whether voters are embracing its promises on affordability and equality, or also support its broader proposals for economic ownership and control.
