[Park Chung-hoon's Dotdanbook] The Socialist Wave Sweeping the US MZ Generation

America Facing Extreme Inequality... Rising Interest in ‘Socialism’
Envisioning a Worker-Centered Economic System Through a Virtual Future
Calling for Social Reform That Respects ‘Human Moral Values’

Radical socialism. Some might think this provocative combination of words belongs only in old ideological texts. However, socialism is being reexamined recently in none other than the United States. According to a 2018 survey, 35% of Americans under 30 said they "strongly prefer" socialism. Another survey found that 58% of Americans aged 18 to 34 view socialism favorably. When thinking of socialism, the American MZ generation associates it more with Sweden’s well-established welfare system for the unemployed than with the Soviet Union of the Cold War era.

In the preface of the new book Declaration of Socialism in America: A Defense of Radical Politics in an Age of Extreme Inequality, author Vaska Sankara states, "In high school, saying ‘I am a socialist’ would get you labeled a ‘crazy person,’ but nowadays, when I say ‘I am a socialist,’ people just nod." The author believes that the conditions are now being set for a better kind of socialism to take root in America. Progressive intellectuals like Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and Bernie Sanders in the US are promoting social democracy and spreading popular energy around class struggle.

For a long time, the United States was a barren land for socialism. German historian Werner Sombart offered a straightforward answer in his 1896 book Why Is There No Socialism in the United States? He argued that workers were too economically prosperous, enjoying too much “roast beef” and “apple pie” to be swayed by socialist agitation. But the US, once a symbol of prosperity and abundance, now suffers from extreme polarization. Capitalists hold life-and-death power over wage workers and have built a class society based on money, yet there is insufficient policy support to improve this. Moreover, concerns about polarization have grown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Declaration of Socialism in America argues for rebranding the very concept of socialism as a new solution to the problems society currently faces. The author dedicates a chapter to imagining the world of 2036, where American-style socialism is realized. The new socialism’s protagonist is not the ‘state’ but the ‘worker.’ In fact, past communist countries pursued state-led planned economies and failed. The state set production scales and prices for goods and services, but lacked information on unforeseen circumstances, making proper planning extremely difficult. Additionally, bureaucratic corruption and authoritarianism hastened the failure of planned economies. The author sees the opposite in a free civil society, where economic planning can be established through democratic policymaking.

In this virtual future, workers are more like citizens belonging to a community called a company. Workers control nationalized companies and ‘smartly’ act as agents planning the economy. The taxes they pay resemble rent for buildings, land, and machinery borrowed from society for production. Those who secure more economic profit naturally pay more ‘rent (tax).’ Workers elect representatives to manage their companies through a representative system; these representatives receive appropriately adjusted wages and perform assigned tasks. There is no wage gap of tens or hundreds of thousands of times as exists now. Taxes are also used to fund new technology investments and startups. Founders of venture companies are recognized with initial management rights and rewarded for technological inventions. As robotics and other technologies reduce working hours, taxes support a basic income. Firing lazy employees or protecting workers from unfair dismissal are handled through democratic procedures, so these are not major issues.

The core of becoming a socialist is respecting the moral value of every person, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or what they have done. Black Americans raised in the new society are no longer bound by the worst education systems, the worst healthcare, or jobs. Women, supported by strong social security, no longer suffer humiliating hierarchical relationships. The protagonists to realize this are the workers of this era. The author says, "We must prepare a future free from exploitation, climatic catastrophe, and the war of all against all. To do so, we must first believe in the ability of ordinary people to save themselves and the world."

(Declaration of Socialism in America: A Defense of Radical Politics in an Age of Extreme Inequality / People Who Own the Future / Vaska Sankara, translated by Editorial Department / 19,800 KRW)