C-SPAN: Professor Eric Foner- Lectures in History: Socialism in America

Source:C-SPAN- Columbia University History Professor, Eric Foner.

Source:FreeState MD

“Columbia University history professor Eric Foner examines the rise of socialism in America in the early 20th century. He talks about the Socialist Party in New York City and Milwaukee, and looks at the Socialist Party of America presidential campaigns of Eugene Debs.”

From C-SPAN 

I actually saw this lecture from Eric Foner back in the summer of 2012. And I would love to see a lecture from Eric Foner in person at some point. But what I want to do in this post is to explain why socialism hasn’t quite caught on America. And the history of it in this country and where it is today. Which is actually alive and doing well considering how individualistic of a country America is both Liberals and Conservatives. And I write about that as a non-Socialist, as a Liberal (or Classical Liberal, if you prefer) whose interested in political philosophy and political history.

I agree with Eric Foner that socialism in the early twentieth century became about the Progressive Era of Teddy Roosevelt. And then later became the New Deal with his cousin Franklin. And actually got some, let’s call them socialist welfare state or safety net programs into law. And then moved to the Fair Deal with Harry Truman and then later the Great Society with Lyndon Johnson with more welfare state or safety net programs. And that socialism essentially became about the welfare state.

In the mid-20th Century, American socialism became about government doing the basic human services that Socialists do not trust the private sector to do. But that the private sector and American capitalism was here to stay. That they should make the best of capitalism. And not try to destroy it, which is basically how Scandinavia deals with capitalism as well.

But where I disagree with Historian Foner, is that socialism in the twentieth century graduated and became what we now know as liberalism today. That liberalism is somehow about the state and government and what government can and should do for the people.

Everywhere else in the developed world, at least, Social Democrats, people that Americans might call Socialists, are considered center-left in the country. Countries like Britain, France, Germany, (just a few examples) the Social Democrats are the center-left party in their country. Whereas Liberals, especially in Germany, are considered to be the center-right party. Germany for example, it’s the Liberals who believe in liberal democracy. Whereas the Social Democrats obviously want Germany to be a social democracy. But Germany at least since the 1950s, has been a functioning, center-right, liberal democracy.

American leftists always talk about how America should be like the rest of the developed world. Well, they should start with political labels and how they label Americans politically, including themselves. Make sure that they correct that, because Liberals believe in liberal, not social democracy. And Progressives believe in progress, not big government and a big national state.