Post #393 - Why socialism and DSA ideas are becoming more appealing and dangerous in Maryland

When I hear about the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) becoming more popular and trying to influence more Democratic Party elections I see George McGovern. I see Walter Mondale and I can see Michael Dukakis and losing a bunch of presidential elections. The problem is those young people who see the socialistic ideas were not even born when these three gentlemen lost presidential elections due to espousing far-left policies.

DSA type of ideas did not help Ben Jealous in 2018. A lot of people in the DSA world support the idea of Medicare for All, but these young people do not realize that there is a cost for Medicare for All that they would have to pay for. It is not free. Medicare for All among socialist is popular because medical costs and services are out of control. Call the doctor’s office today and you get AI first. People on Medicare pay the government monthly for this insurance. Some of the policies the DSA supports include things like the Green New Deal. Where they run into their problems are they must tax their way in the paying for it with corporations, boomers along with the wealthy being asked to pick up the tab.

Some of the other DSA policies have frightened a lot of voters include their attitudes towards Israel. There’s a lot of “From the river to the sea” people among the DSA. (But I think that’s more people who hate Bibi more than hate Israel.) Also, when it comes to criminal justice, many of their members have called for defunding the police, and abolishing cash bail.

In 2020 when many people in the far left were on the Bernie or bust campaign and were bragging about being Bernie Bros, their attitude was we’ll get it right this time. Well, when it looked like Bernie might win the Democratic Party presidential nomination, immediately moderates ran into the arms of Joe Biden after he won the South Carolina primary and within two weeks the Sanders campaign was DOA.

There are a lot of members of the Maryland House of Delegates who are very progressive, bordering on socialists. They see government as a bottomless pit of money that taxes will cover their dreams. They see as the wealthy and corporation profits as a way to solve all the problems. Many of these DSA policies may fall in line with many members of the Maryland General Assembly, it doesn’t fall in line with the general public. This year the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation that would make it more difficult to charge juveniles who commit serious crimes as adults. The bill eliminated automatic charging of youth aged 14 and 15 and also reduced the list of charges for youth 16 and 17 years of age. Twenty years ago, the Maryland General Assembly was much more conservative than it is today.

But one of the problems I see is that no one has taken the time to understand is why socialism is so appealing for these younger people. I think I have the answer. They love socialism because capitalism is failing them. I love capitalism, I think it’s a great thing. Work hard, become successful and make a lot of money. The problem is the wealth gap between rich and poor is getting wider and more people believe that no matter how hard they work they will never even become millionaires or at the very least as successful as their parents. Years ago, everyone said get a college degree because that’s the ticket to success. Now it’s a ticket that includes student loan debt.

The cost of a college education today is much higher than it was when I got my degree in the 1980s. I had a total student loan debt of $5000. Adjusted for inflation today that comes to about $17,000. The average cost of a year at Towson is $20,000. College costs in the 1980’s compared to today are out of control, which has increased student loan debt. That debt is part of the economic divide. But people also need to stop majoring in Art History and go to a community college first.

In 1966 my parents bought a house in the burbs for $30,000 that same house in the burbs today is worth about $200,000. Want to guess how much $30,000 is in 2026 terms? $310,000. The problem is for a lot of young people, $200,000 is all the money in the world. With student loan debt, they see themselves as permanent renters because, how are they going to pay off $100,000 in student loans to be able to afford a $200,000 home in Maryland?

There are a few DSA type candidates running for office in Maryland in 2026 and you may see more in the near future if the economy doesn’t get better. Socialism was very popular in the 1930s because of the economic chaos the Great Depression caused. When people are not equal in society, they want to be equal. Part of equality is being able to make enough money. The era of socialism’s greatest popularity was during the Great Depression. That led to government creating Social Security etc. FDR said if he didn’t fix things he would be the LAST President of the United States.

Society favors the wealthy. The tax code is written for the wealthy. The campaign contributors are the wealthy, so government leaders try to avoid taxing the wealthy. FYI - when I talk about wealthy I’m talking about people making over $1,000,000 a year.

I see where socialists come from with these ideas. Whereas Democrats call it socialism, Republicans are dragging out the word communism. The problem is communism is the wrong word in this sentence. When people think about communism they think about the Cold War with the Soviet Union. They don’t think about communism in terms of economics. When people start to explain socialistic policies and I say, “do you really want to get rid of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid”, most people say hell no. One of the biggest socialistic programs over the last 20 years has been Obamacare, that is very popular despite the actions of President Trump.

When older people react negatively towards younger people who are supporting a lot of these socialistic ideas, they often respond with, well you just need to work hard to become successful. Sometimes that’s the case, sometimes it’s not. Often at times is a response from that younger generation is, “OK boomer”.

Some DSA ideas are crazy, but these people are politically active and don’t feel that they will achieve the same financial success their parents or grandparents achieved. This is where Democrats need to be very careful. The DSA types want change immediately and they’re going after Democrats in primaries. They would also rather lose with a DSA candidate than win with a regular democrat.

I believe in capitalism. I believe in hard work. For many years I worked 2 jobs to achieve an opportunity to teach at the Community College level. I think there are some people today who do want to work hard to achieve success. There are a lot of people also that are bitter because life isn’t easier for them.

In some respects, life isn’t easier but as I like to say, figure it out. Medical science is a hell of a lot better today than it was in 1966. The problem is inflation and the cost of living has skyrocketed so much for a variety of things that has made it difficult for people in their 20s and 30s to get ahead and that is why the ideas of the DSA and ideas of socialism are appealing. When you’re not equal in salary, you want equality. When you’re making more money, you believe in equality a lot less and capitalism a lot more.

Capitalism and President Obama’s biggest failure was not dealing with the people who perpetuated the financial collapse of the economy 2008. I assumed that some of the barons of Wall Street would end up going to jail for some of the financial shenanigans that went on. Instead, no one even got their hand slapped, we just bailed out companies and moved on. In some ways that led to the Tea Party movement. The 2008 bailout saved Wall Street but people who lost money in their 401K didn’t get a bailout.

Maryland is still a state of middle temperament. Socialism ideas become more popular as the economic divide increases. Fix the economic divide and solve the DSA problem.