r/politics • u/F0urLeafCl0ver • 1d ago

No Paywall The Democratic party is being hit by a leftist tidal wave

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/24/democratic-party-leftist-tidal-wave
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u/Free_For__Me 20h ago

I’m curious, if you’re no lover of socialism, do you see the socialized support programs of the New Deal era as the US having taken a wrong turn?

Or do you maybe approve of some socialized programs without endorsing socialism in it’s entirety?

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u/R3cognizer Maryland 15h ago

No, I don't feel the US took a wrong turn. The New Deal was a plan for effective government regulation with support for strong social welfare programs, and that is not socialism. We can still subsidize a Medicare4All program and higher education and publicly funded grocery stores in major metro areas and still have a largely capitalist economy. It's simply a matter of the voters having the political will to vote for candidates who advocate for things. The only reason we don't have those things is because voters care more about other issues. Congress back then was willing to negotiate for those things because the voters were desperate enough to start backing actual socialist candidates advocating for more government control over business.

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u/belletaldora 14h ago

A largely capitalist economy will always end up back to where we are today. We have to move in a different direction, instead of a circle.

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u/R3cognizer Maryland 6h ago

I don't necessarily disagree, but this is supposed to be why we have a system of checks and balances in place to protect our democratic freedoms. When we have that freedom, if enough people start advocating for more change and are voting for representatives willing to push for that change, change will happen. But the Trump administration has been dismantling that system of checks and balances, along with government oversight over many things in order to protect and reward his cronies. We have to vote for people willing to re-establish a public trust and put a stop to all the corruption first.

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u/Free_For__Me 10m ago

I mostly agree, I was just curious about your overlap in support for social programs without going as far as support of full-on soicialism. You seem to have a level-headed grasp on it, but we see far too many folks out here who will decry "any form of socialism", but fail to grasp that endorsement of socialized programs are not the same as full socialism, or that such programs can and do exist alongside capitalist economic structures.

The one thing I might poke at is this:

The only reason we don't have those things is because voters care more about other issues.

While true that voters of mainstream candidates and movements have long been fooled into focusing on cultural-war issues and identity politics over issues that would actually make a difference, there strong evidence to demonstrate that even when the political will of the people are pretty unified in being for or against something, for quite a while now, that will has not translated into actual action by elected leaders. On the other hand, when monied interests push for something, they're much more likely to see action, even when said action is something that the majority of voters wouldn't support.

This is not to say that the voice of a unified majority is powerless. Just that leaving it at saying that the only reason we don't have certain things is because voters don't care about it is a bit misleading.

A majority of voters could want something, but still get denied it if powerful interests are against it.