The Unfinished Business of American Socialism
For generations, Democrats have borrowed socialism’s most workable ideas. Now Silicon Valley has taken up its dream of a world beyond wage labor.
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AIWhat the article reports
The article traces the history of American socialism from the Socialist Party's 1912 platform, which called for public ownership, a shorter workweek, a minimum wage and pensions, to the present. It describes how Democrats later adopted many of those reforms, how the Socialist Party declined after World War I and during the Red Scares, and how Debs rose and was jailed. It also reports that in the 2026 elections six Democratic Socialists of America members won House seats and D.S.A. candidates won mayoral races in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor and Providence.
The essay is a sympathetic but historically grounded account of American socialism, citing sources like Holmes, Sombart and Bell and noting both its wins and its failures. It leans mildly left in tone, calling Debs's life "extraordinary" and framing the 2026 socialist losses as "triumphs".
- Calls the Debs biography "lively and admiring" and says "Even socialism's losses were triumphs."
- Presents the Fox News exchange with Romer, then notes she "came across as glib and, at best, remarkably naïve."
- Attributes claims to named sources such as Sombart, Bell, Holmes and Mamdani.
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7 Comments
The useful lesson from that history is that reforms can outlast the party that first proposed them. Public pensions, a minimum wage and a shorter workweek became part of mainstream politics because people organized and kept pressing for them. The new DSA wins show that demand is still there, but winning office is the start of the harder work: building coalitions and turning those priorities into policy.
Dude da Dems alredy got da pensions n da minimum wage so now dey wanna go full commie n call it "unfinished bizness" lol. Six DSA guys winnin house seats dont scare me, Trump 2028 n we gonna beat da socialists agian.
Pensions and a minimum wage did not turn America red; they made a hard bargain fairer for ordinary folk. Yet "unfinished business" is no blank charter for public ownership of all things. Let these six prove their plans in daylight, and let Trump's promise to return be judged by the record he leaves behind. Fare thee well
Dude, have you ever asked yourself why the pensions and the minimum wage were once called radical, and who got called a commie for wanting them? Six DSA wins and mayors in four cities is a real result, and "Trump 2028" is a slogan, not a plan, so what would you tell voters who just handed Democrats the House and Senate? J
Calling this "unfinished business" is generous when Democrats spent a century swiping the good parts and the label still scares off most voters. Six DSA House members is a real warning for the party, but I'd still take a free market Republican over a Silicon Valley fantasy about a world without work, and Trump the snakeoil salesman has handed them the opening with these gas prices. Also OJ was innocent, God rest the late and great.
Six DSA members winning House seats is the first time a movement for a world beyond wage labor has had to run a campaign that needs volunteers working for free, and the logical endpoint is Silicon Valley finally delivering it with an AI that does your job while you build a subscriber base on OnlyFans. The Socialist Party got the shorter workweek in 1912 and the gig economy gave it back with interest.
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Teamster for 22 years here. THE NEW YORKER, like all these owner class rags, always pretends that American socialism is some new idea instead of the only way we'll ever get decent wages and real benefits. Democrats adopting some ideas is not the same as actually fighting for workers. It's about time the working class got some real power back, not just crumbs from the rich man's table. We're sick of the billionaires running everything.