Yesterday, skimming along on Marsh Creek Lake, I found myself thinking of how much I have to be thankful for and how my pleasure is multiplied by knowing the beauty around me is shared with many others.
The lake itself is a reservoir created to provide water to communities in northern Chester County. It also helps moderate flooding in communities downriver on the beautiful Brandywine. The state park that surrounds the lake provides a summer day camp for local kids, boat rentals from spring through fall, fishing, a pool, lots of trails for hikers, bikers and horses, and a beautiful spot where on any pleasant evening there are lots of folks gathering to watch the sun set across the lake.
The lake and the land surrounding it, all 1,784 acres, are owned by the people of Pennsylvania. From what I can tell, that's a form of socialism.
Here's the Encyclopedia Britannica definition:
"Socialism, social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another."
I've been thinking about socialism because last week former President Trump, campaigning here in Pennsylvania, called Kamala Harris an "incompetent socialist lunatic." I'm not a fan of language that treats mental illness lightly, and I think there's plenty of evidence of Harris' competence, but for now my concern is the misuse of the word "socialist".
I've been called a socialist myself in my work with Fair Districts PA. For a while I had a very active troll who regularly accused me of being "a radical libtard socialist commie." Socialism and communism are not the same, but it appears the terms are used interchangeably by people more interested in hurling insults than having a reasonable conversation.
Both socialism and communism are broad, imprecise terms, as is capitalism. In reality there's no completely capitalist country and no completely socialist country. Most are somewhere on a continuum. Finland and Sweden are described as socialist nations, but spend time there and you'll see plenty of private businesses, lots of privately owned homes, cars, and boats, and all the individual freedoms we enjoy here in the US. And while the US is described as a capitalist country, about 28% of US land is publicly owned and more than 4/5ths of US adults were educated in public schools.
I wrote about socialism, What We Share, back in November 2020, just after the last presidential election. I was puzzled at the great outcry of fear that the Biden-Harris administration would destroy our country with dangerous socialism.
Since then a record-breaking number of new businesses have launched in what the Commerce Institute describes as an "entrepreneurial awakening."
- Job stability is more pronounced than before the pandemic
- More workers receive substantial wage gains
- Household wealth far outpaces income
- Homeownership has expanded
- Households face lower debt burdens
From what I can tell, capitalism has done just fine under the Biden-Harris administration. At a June 2024 press conference on the US economy, Kristalina Gerogieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said
the U.S. economy .. . has been remarkably strong. Activity and employment have exceeded expectations and the disinflation process has proven less costly than most feared. The U.S. is the only G-20 economy whose GDP level now exceeds the pre-Pandemic level.
The real question in our political debates, covered by distracting cries of "socialism," is this: who is the public-private continuum designed to benefit most?
I remember seeing a short video clip from Elizabeth Warren a decade or more ago. She was suggesting millionaires pay their fair share. And immediately attacked as a socialist. That label stuck but was never true.
Socialism, taken too far, can be harmful. The same is true of unfettered capitalism.
It's the fear surrounding socialism that puzzles me, the unfounded accusations, and the weird idea that any policy that helps us all will ruin our economy.
No doubt we'll be hearing plenty of accusations of socialism in the days ahead.
What do people mean when they say it?
What policies are they objecting to? And why?
I'm not an economist, but I'll likely be looking more closely at economic policy as we move toward November.
As I wrote in my post in 2020:
There is no perfect economic structure. No perfect political system. Every human institution can fall prey to thugs, con artists, powerful, greedy people looking out for their own good.
But there will always be things we share.
Our lives are better, our communities safer, thanks to politicians who braved accusations of socialism to create social security, worker protections, regulations that protect our air and water.
I'm thankful for them, and for others who initiated national and state parks, conservation areas, public libraries, safe, well-designed highways.
Join me in enjoying those shared public goods in these last sweet days of summer.
And join me in pushing back against misleading, fear-based accusations.
Some earlier posts on money, budgets and economic policy:
