Democratic Socialism In America Today

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In the past few years, Democratic Socialism has become an increasingly talked about ideology across the nation. It has more recently become a widely expressed topic throughout the 2016 election. Presidential hopeful, Senator Bernie Sanders, ran for the Democratic Nomination with a Socialist platform, which quickly caught the attention of a wide range of voters. Many people then, were not fully aware of what exactly Democratic Socialism was. According to the Democratic Socialists of America, they believe that, “both the economy and society should be run democratically—to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few” (DSA). With the influence of media and prominent politicians, it has prompted Americans to dig deeper into the meaning of this …show more content…

Some of these values included equality, justice, and tranquility. One ideal that Democratic Socialism is thought to exemplify is equality. A largely known foundation for Democratic Socialism is the idea that there should be equality among wealth and income by social cooperation that benefits all people. Democratic Socialists work to “promote social justice, equal education for all children, universal health care, environmental protection and guaranteed minimum income and social well-being”(DSA). They believe that regardless of economic divide, Americans should all work together to better the nation as a whole. Studies show that “400 million people do not have access to essential healthcare services” (World Health). If Democratic Socialism were to be put into place, it could allow for many people who did not have access to education or healthcare to acquire them. With this ideal of fairness and equality, it could be very beneficial in allowing our society to …show more content…

Opponents of Democratic Socialism argue that this ideology is inefficient. It is believed that free access to programs funded by the government leads to over regulation which crushes incentive. As previously stated, Democratic Socialism believes in universal health care. In recent years, it has been shown that different government funded programs create too much dependency on the state. Food stamp programs, as well as Medicare and Medicaid have been proven to support these claims. Critics argue that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program should be drastically reduced. The fact that almost “45 million people received food stamps in 2011, they contend, proves that the program has become far too lenient in its eligibility criteria”(Government Programs and Funding). These types of programs are provided to so many people when they were mainly established for people in real need. Like food stamps, Medicaid has become so large that millions of Americans who pay for their health insurance choose not to, because they know they can rely on Medicaid for free care. The structure of Medicaid creates a “low wage trap that discourages families from trying to move up the income ladder” (Government Programs and Funding). In addition to creating dependency solely on the state, it would be extremely expensive to maintain Democratic Socialism. Currently, the cost of

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