Socialism in America essays

Socialism in America essays Socialism is the public collective ownership of, or control of the means of production, distribution and exchange with the declared aim of operating for use rather than for profit; also for assuring each member of society an equal share of goods, services, and warfare benefits. Socialism in America has officially never existed. To call a plan socialistic would be potentially dangerous in a democracy, being that America is a democracy and the business of America is business. We function as a capitalistic system which could not exist if any form of real socialism were present. In 1901 Mr. Tom Johnson was elected mayor of Cleveland on the platform of equal taxation on all properties rather than the government favoring certain owners. One of his main political aims as his term went on was the city ownership and operation of the utilities such as water and power and the transit system. This objective came into controversy because the public ownership of anything can be defined as a form of socialism. If Johnson got his way, the city utilities would be bettered and the main driving force would be the efficient supply of the utilities to the people and not the pursuit of selfish profit. This would also mean that the city would own the transit system and could better it to the needs of the public as well. The prices would go down and the overall decency of the services would increase. There really was no downside to his plan except perhaps the money and control that the previous owners would loose. The real question in the matter was if this plan was a form of socialism. Many pro-progressivists did not like the idea of socialism but were all in favor of city ownership of the utilities and services. People had no problem with eliminating the corruption and saving money. To further promote the success of his plan, Johnson decided to call this communal ownership a simple extension of democracy. He pronounce ...