PoliTalker
Diversity Makes Greatness
"Throughout United States history, Milwaukee and Wisconsin have been politically significant. And Milwaukee has an interesting political past you may not know about: socialists ran the city for nearly half of the 20th century. One of the most notable was Mayor Daniel Hoan, who served for a consecutive 24 years — the longest socialist administration in U.S. history."
Overall, Socialism in Milwaukee was a resounding success.
New PBS Documentary Explores Why Milwaukee Was 'America's Socialist Experiment'
How Socialism Saved Milwaukee From Dirty Capitalists:
There's a fairly common meme on the right that goes like this: 'Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried.'
That's actually false. Milwaukee was run as a Democratic Socialist City beginning in 1910 and finally ending in 1960. And it did not end in failure. It was a resounding success.
Milwaukee was a fast growing city in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Lots of capitalism, jobs and manufacturing. The workers had very little in the way of rights, and the city was pretty dirty. There was no public sanitation system. Ditches stunk with raw sewage. There were no parks. The lake front had all been bought up by the rich who had large mansions lining the waterfront.
And the worst part was that the government was heavily corrupted. People had no trust in government. People were so tired of business-as-usual that when a Socialist ran for mayor on platform of cleaning up not only the corruption, but the city itself, he won.
And those promises were delivered upon. During the 50 year period in which Socialists were elected not only to run the city but also represent them in Congress, there was not one story of corruption. A brand new public sewage treatment plant was constructed which was a huge success. New lake front was dredged and filled to create a public waterfront open to all, not just the rich.
Other socialists around the country rejected the Milwaukee model because Milwaukee Socialists worked with the capitalists and did not try to take over businesses or own the means of production. They called the Milwaukee socialists: 'sewer socialists.' Presumably because their very first project was to create a public sewage system. And the Milwaukee Socialists didn't mind being called that at all, because their public sewer system was fantastic success which pleased the taxpayers who remembered what it was like with open sewage stinking away in ditches.
Milwaukee Socialists were frugal with taxpayer money. They instituted the concept of line item accounting for the city budget, saving the city thousands of dollars in reduced wasteful spending.
Along the years the Milwaukee Socialists instituted many of the public works projects that most Americans now take for granted, and ran all of those services as government-owned and operated systems. Both the Democratic and Republican parties could not deny the success and popularity of Milwaukee Socialists, so instead of trying to argue against it, they adopted many of those items into their platforms.
Eventually, Socialism was linked with communism and the USSR, which caused a drop in popularity. As generations flipped by, voters forgot, never knew about, or took for granted the successes of Milwaukee Socialists, and the Democratic party particularly adopted many of the ideas which began in Milwaukee, such as Social Security. Where do you think FDR got the idea?
After the Milwaukee Socialists accomplished everything they set out to do there were no more big dragons to slay, and with the new (and incorrect) association with communism, there was less need to elect Socialists, and the experiment concluded, only after forcing both of the major parties to adopt many of their principles, which still stand today.
That can only be called a resounding success story for Socialism in America.
""Everything from public housing to public ports, to public health departments. They were called the 'Sewer Socialists,' because they wanted to have an infrastructure that wouldn't poison people with contaminated water," Gurda says.
At the time, socialists made inroads elsewhere in the United States. But Kevin Abing of the Milwaukee County Historical Society says the ideology had special appeal here.
"Milwaukee was known as the 'Machine Shop of the World.' There was just this huge population of mostly ethnic workers who were laboring in the factories for pennies. Working conditions weren't always the best. They definitely were interested in improving the status of the working class," Abing says."
How Did Socialist Mayors Impact Milwaukee?
Overall, Socialism in Milwaukee was a resounding success.
New PBS Documentary Explores Why Milwaukee Was 'America's Socialist Experiment'
How Socialism Saved Milwaukee From Dirty Capitalists:
There's a fairly common meme on the right that goes like this: 'Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried.'
That's actually false. Milwaukee was run as a Democratic Socialist City beginning in 1910 and finally ending in 1960. And it did not end in failure. It was a resounding success.
Milwaukee was a fast growing city in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Lots of capitalism, jobs and manufacturing. The workers had very little in the way of rights, and the city was pretty dirty. There was no public sanitation system. Ditches stunk with raw sewage. There were no parks. The lake front had all been bought up by the rich who had large mansions lining the waterfront.
And the worst part was that the government was heavily corrupted. People had no trust in government. People were so tired of business-as-usual that when a Socialist ran for mayor on platform of cleaning up not only the corruption, but the city itself, he won.
And those promises were delivered upon. During the 50 year period in which Socialists were elected not only to run the city but also represent them in Congress, there was not one story of corruption. A brand new public sewage treatment plant was constructed which was a huge success. New lake front was dredged and filled to create a public waterfront open to all, not just the rich.
Other socialists around the country rejected the Milwaukee model because Milwaukee Socialists worked with the capitalists and did not try to take over businesses or own the means of production. They called the Milwaukee socialists: 'sewer socialists.' Presumably because their very first project was to create a public sewage system. And the Milwaukee Socialists didn't mind being called that at all, because their public sewer system was fantastic success which pleased the taxpayers who remembered what it was like with open sewage stinking away in ditches.
Milwaukee Socialists were frugal with taxpayer money. They instituted the concept of line item accounting for the city budget, saving the city thousands of dollars in reduced wasteful spending.
Along the years the Milwaukee Socialists instituted many of the public works projects that most Americans now take for granted, and ran all of those services as government-owned and operated systems. Both the Democratic and Republican parties could not deny the success and popularity of Milwaukee Socialists, so instead of trying to argue against it, they adopted many of those items into their platforms.
Eventually, Socialism was linked with communism and the USSR, which caused a drop in popularity. As generations flipped by, voters forgot, never knew about, or took for granted the successes of Milwaukee Socialists, and the Democratic party particularly adopted many of the ideas which began in Milwaukee, such as Social Security. Where do you think FDR got the idea?
After the Milwaukee Socialists accomplished everything they set out to do there were no more big dragons to slay, and with the new (and incorrect) association with communism, there was less need to elect Socialists, and the experiment concluded, only after forcing both of the major parties to adopt many of their principles, which still stand today.
That can only be called a resounding success story for Socialism in America.
""Everything from public housing to public ports, to public health departments. They were called the 'Sewer Socialists,' because they wanted to have an infrastructure that wouldn't poison people with contaminated water," Gurda says.
At the time, socialists made inroads elsewhere in the United States. But Kevin Abing of the Milwaukee County Historical Society says the ideology had special appeal here.
"Milwaukee was known as the 'Machine Shop of the World.' There was just this huge population of mostly ethnic workers who were laboring in the factories for pennies. Working conditions weren't always the best. They definitely were interested in improving the status of the working class," Abing says."
How Did Socialist Mayors Impact Milwaukee?
Dumb Asses. How think do you stupid THE PEOPLE to be? Socialism is dying....as observed with all the kicking and screaming taking place......Nationalist Conservatism is taking over THE WORLD. Its a great time to be alive.....watching history unfold in real time.