Democratic Socialism Offers an Important Answer to Inequality, but Americans Should Not Overlook the Power Capitalism Gives Them Through Individual Choice, Collective Spending and the Ballot Box
Democratic socialism is having another political moment, and it is not difficult to understand why.
Americans are watching billionaires, corporations and political organizations spend enormous amounts of money attempting to shape elections. In Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, AIPAC and its affiliated groups have spent nearly $30 million supporting Rep. Haley Stevens, the largest investment the organization has ever made in one race. Progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim U.S. senator if elected, has described the Aug. 4 contest as “the many versus the money.”
Meanwhile, progressive candidates such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani himself and his endorsements recently defeated several establishment-supported candidates in New York congressional primaries. Those victories suggest that voters are not powerless against major donors, party machines or corporate interests. Organized voters can still overcome organized money.
Sen. Bernie Sanders framed the results as evidence that voters are beginning to challenge the traditional political power structure.
“The political establishment — Democratic and Republican — is getting nervous,” Sanders wrote. “So are the oligarchs and the corporate media they own.”
What America Already Gets From Socialism
The United States already operates through a mixture of private markets, public programs and government regulation. We have privately owned businesses, but we also collectively fund public schools, roads, emergency services and national defense. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid exist because society decided that retirement, disability and healthcare cannot be left entirely to the private market.
Those programs are not evidence that America is secretly socialist. They show that capitalism cannot function fairly or efficiently without public investment and government protection.
Democratic socialism is right about one major point: Human survival should not depend completely on purchasing power.
In a capitalist market, demand does not simply mean that people need something. It means they possess enough money to buy it. Someone can desperately need housing, medicine or food without creating the kind of “demand” that businesses recognize (monetary demand).
Government should therefore guarantee a basic floor beneath every citizen. Healthcare, education, infrastructure, public safety and reasonable assistance during hardship should not be luxuries.
Do Not Surrender Individual Power
But democratic socialism should not come at the expense of individualism, private ownership or consumer choice. Labor unions deserve protection, but labor should not become the only source of economic power. Individuals should retain power through their work, their votes and the dollars they choose to spend.
One billionaire’s dollar can overpower one ordinary person’s dollar. But millions of ordinary dollars, organized around shared priorities, can redirect entire markets. The same principle applies to voting. One wealthy donor can finance advertisements, but that donor still cannot legally cast millions of ballots.
The problem is not that Americans possess no power. The problem is that we often fail to recognize it.
Collective Power Must Be Used
A democratic socialist principle underlies this argument: Collective power works only when people use it collectively. It is how ordinary people apply pressure when government and markets stop serving the public. If Americans were more politically informed and engaged and directed their spending toward ethical businesses, this contemporary political and economic system we’re now navigating would have a much harder time working against us.
Government is supposed to provide a buffer between citizens and the worst effects of capitalism, including corporate exploitation, monopolies and concentrated wealth. When elected officials stop fulfilling that responsibility, voters should organize, apply pressure and remove them from office. That is what we are beginning to see in recent elections.
The current democratic socialist surge is a response to a real imbalance in our government. It should push America toward stronger public services, tougher corporate regulation and greater political accountability. But, I don’t think, the answer is surrendering private enterprise or individual power.
Capitalism should be regulated, not dismantled. The government should take care of its citizens, but citizens must never hand over the power contained in their votes, choices and collective dollars.
Until then, good night and good luck.
