Socialism had some serious failings as an economic system. It politicized economic decisions, often allocating capital in ways that were unproductive and even counter-productive. It didn’t allow enough outlets for entrepreneurship. In its more extreme forms, it devolved into tyranny.
However…
It did provide a great mechanism for protest, and was a proven means of keeping governments from getting too cozy with elements of an economy that needed to be kept in check so as not to abuse a citizenry. In other words, it helped keep the pigs in the pen where they could be fattened for the general good, rather than allowing them to rut unchecked in the garden.
Perhaps the most frequently noted historical example of this keep-’em-well-behaved function was Chancellor Bismarck’s social welfare reforms in 1880’s Germany. These “took the wind out of the sails of socialism,” as the phrase went, by adopting some of the best features of socialism while leaving a largely capitalist economy in place.
Which brings us to the present state of these badly dis-united United States. A flagrantly corrupt, out of control, influence buying Wall Street is blithely robbing the rest of society blind with the full connivance of a government it has bought or otherwise controls. There are many reasons this situation came into being and continues to exist. But the primary one is lack of a taming alternative. There’s no socialist alternative to take the wind out of this Wall Street pirate’s sails. There isn’t even a major non-socialist political party (you know, like the Democrats) that has not been bought and paid for.
So here’s my May Day suggestion. Bring back an aggressive, articulate, well led and honest socialist movement. Have it clearly lay out its alternatives to the present economic system. Use the growing strength of this movement to scare the pants off the rutting pigs of The Street. And in a larger sense, use the socialist threat to help recreate the middle class-friendly capitalism that existed in this country before a clique that once help create wealth decided they deserved it all.
It really is time to put the pigs back in their pens.
(Michael Silverstein’s new novel, Murder At Bernstein’s, about a financial news billionaire who wants to get elected Mayor of Philadelphia, is now available on Amazon. Silverstein is a former senior editor with Bloomberg News, and National Public Radio’s Wall Street poet.)