Democratic Socialism and its Gaining Popularity

Democratic Socialism
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Democratic Socialism
The philosophy of democratic socialism is gaining hype across the United States as some politicians believe it can resolve Americans’ problems. In 2015, Bernie Sanders gave a speech on the subject during his first bid for a presidential nomination on a Democratic ticket (Golshan, 2019). In the speech, he insisted that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Junior were on course with their ideas on the subject. The growing hype around democratic socialism attracts scholarly attention where and close observation, considering many ideas of socialism have failed. This reflection will focus on defining the term ‘democratic socialism’ and explaining it is gaining popularity. Additionally, the reflection will explore the differences between democratic socialism and other forms and determine the likelihood that democratic socialism will deliver on its proponents’ promises.
Several proponents of democratic socialism have made an effort to define this philosophy. In the aforementioned Bernie Sanders speech, the speaker highlighted that democratic socialism implies guaranteed economic rights for all. Those supporting the philosophy indicate that Scandinavia and Iceland offer good examples of how democratic socialism should work. In other words, a large welfare state is embedded within a capitalist nation (Waxman, 2018). There may be a debate on whether these countries are indeed social democracies. Still, it can be argued that the economic models adopted seem to work towards addressing such issues as economic inequality. The working class in America can be considered the largest social class in the country. Bernie Sanders believes that President Franklin had made positive progress towards protecting the needs of these families. Capitalism is a system that has allowed the rich to continue amassing more wealth while the rest keep struggling economically. Democratic socialism attacks this arrangement and ensures that all Americans enjoy guaranteed economic rights. Therefore, it can be argued that the focus of this philosophy is not to completely overthrow capitalism.
In the previous decades, the philosophy of democratic socialism was unknown. It has only recently come to the limelight in the news media after the success in the primary elections of several members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) (Waxman, 2018). Socialism has historically received massive opposition in the United States, which explains why the election of DSA members comes as a surprise. The result is that more people have sought to understand what this philosophy entails, and more journalists have sought to explain it and engage various experts in discussions regarding the subject. A key point to note is that some key figures in the United States have also been associated with democratic socialism. Bernie Sanders is a case example of a long-serving politician and activist who ha...