Socialism. I have seen many people cringe at the word, and I have been trying to figure out why people exhibit such a negative response. After asking around, it was easy for me to confirm that the negative reputation of socialism is based upon the lack of knowledge surrounding its meaning. It is a word loaded with a myriad of ideas and values (and lots of misconceptions as well).

“[People] probably don’t have a thorough understanding of socialism because it seems that some people just think it’s communism,” junior Mitchell Bauder said. “I don’t think most people understand what it is.”

According to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Democratic Socialism is simply the belief that both the social and the economic systems should be run democratically. The ultimate goal is to establish a more fair system so that more people are benefiting rather than struggling. There is a strong correlation between democracy and socialism.

“When you start to fall behind in America, you have to make your way back out by yourself,” Denmark resident Demine Pederson said.

There are quite a few countries that have socialist-heavy policies such as Denmark, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, New Zealand, and Belgium. Meeting the basic needs of citizens is promised within socialism: health care is typically universal, and education is free.

“There are countries out there that definitely have more socialism than others, but nobody has pure socialism. There’s lots of nations that are kind of hybrids of socialism; they are all nations of some level of capitalism with higher degrees of socialist policies,” social studies department head Mr. Tom Beaupre said. “A lot of the time we’ll talk about Canada, because they have programs that the government runs, whether it is high taxes, nationalized medicine or nationalized education.”

There are a number of socialist-style policies and programs in the United States, such as Medicare, Medicaid, public schooling, and Social Security.

“I think a lot of Americans fear the word socialism because they associate it with communism, and those things aren’t necessarily related,” Mr. Beaupre said. “We have, over time, embraced a lot of aspects of socialist programs, but Americans do not tend to think of them that way.”

There are pros and cons to most political and economic theories. The good? Socialism entails education and healthcare for everyone. It also allows for a more equal economic system. The bad? Though healthcare and education would be easily accessible, this comes with higher taxes. The ugly? Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

“There isn’t complete control over economy or everyone else’s life, but it is more forgiving than capitalism because it kind of seems to work as a backup system. You are not going to flounder if you are in poverty or if something goes wrong in your life,” junior Lexi Brown said,  “You can get help instead of just being thrown to the wolves.”