The roots of socialism in United States of America can be traced to the arrival of German immigrants in the 1850s when Marxian socialist unions began, such as the National Typographic Union in 1852, United Hatters of 1856, and Iron Moulders’ Union of North America in 1859. Theodore H. White, author of Fire in the Ashes: Europe in Mid-Century (1953) wrote, “Socialism is the belief and the hope that by proper use of government power, men can be rescued from their helplessness in the wild cycling cruelty of depression and boom.”

The Socialist Party in America was born and grew dramatically between 1900 and 1912. Under the charismatic leadership of Eugene V. Debs, 160 councilmen, 145 aldermen, one congressman, and 56 mayors, were elected as Socialists. At the time, Socialists published 300 newspapers, including the “Appeal of Reason,” which was a Kansas-based publication with 700,000 subscribers. Membership in the Socialist Party totaled 125,000.

Debs converted to socialism while serving jail time for his part in the Pullman Strike in 1897, and began to edit the Appeal to Reason publication. From 1900 to 1920, he ran for president on the Socialist ticket while increasing membership to the Socialist Party tenfold. Although Debs insisted he was a Marxist, he spoke more about poverty and injustice than typical socialist concerns about the class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat (Marx).

In 1912, Debs received 900,000 votes, which was six percent of the presidential votes cast that year, principally for his stand against America’s involvement in World War I. Debs appealed to blue collar workers hungry for improved working conditions and higher wages.

Socialism in America can still be felt today. According to the Future of Freedom Foundation, any government owned, funded, or -subsidized operation is considered to be a socialist program. For example, publicly owned airports, sports arenas or government-funded universities would be considered socialist operations by that definition.

The Social Security Act of 1935, one of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal creations, is seen by many as a socialist program because it is a government organized and regulated system. Social Security was designed to provide retirement benefits to citizens through mandatory donations to the program during one’s employment years.

During the Clinton administration, a plan was proposed to bring down the high costs of health insurance by creating “national health insurance.” Critics of the national health insurance concept labeled it “socialized medicine” and argued that the individual, not the federal government, had the wisdom and capability to manage his or her own affairs. They argued that deregulation of the health care industry and opening it up to the free market would bring the cost of health care down and increase the availability of care to the American public, which national health insurance would not do.

Today, the internet gives the Socialist movement a greater platform. Socialist websites for example, Socialist Party USA, International Socialist Review, Socialist Labor Party of America and the Socialist Worker websites are reaching a combined 38,700 unique visitors a month. While their numbers have dwindled since the 1960s and 1970s the ideology seems to be making a comeback in the recent presidential election. Socialistic ideas thrive in tough economic times, but will history prove socialism to be wrong again?