Dear Editor:

The last time socialism rose to its current level of popularity was with the "Wobblies." Today we're seeing a resurgence in the form of democratic socialism. Given the harsh criticism leveled at socialism, it's worth asking why its popularity keeps re-emerging or, more broadly, why anyone, anywhere, chooses socialism or communism as a guiding ideal, and why violent repression of it always fails.

Socialism's appeal lies in its implied promise of social justice. People who feel that the current economic system has cheated them go looking for alternatives. As long as wage earners struggle to make ends meet despite their hard work, or consumers lose confidence in the industries they depend on for goods and services, they'll keep searching for something that works for them.

The rise of democratic socialism is a reaction to capitalism's failures. As our government scaled back taxes on the rich, stripped away the regulatory guardrails protecting workers and consumers, and failed to break up uncompetitive monopolies. It let capitalism decay into oligopoly.

But socialism is, at its root, an idea. and ideas stick in people's minds. Industry and government can harass, incarcerate, even kill those they perceive as socialists, but as long as systemic injustice persists, so will the belief that something better is possible.

The best way to supplant a flawed idea that sounds appealing is to offer a better one. That better idea is making capitalism work for all stakeholders in our economy, not just shareholders. For capitalism to earn society's trust, it needs to be fair, open, and transparent.

That means restoring the guardrails we dismantled: closing the loopholes that let wealth escape taxation, rebuilding the regulatory agencies meant to protect workers and consumers, and enforcing antitrust law so markets stay genuinely competitive. It's not a call to abandon capitalism, but to hold it to its own promise.

The choice isn't between capitalism and socialism. It's between a capitalism that works for everyone and one that, left unchecked, will keep manufacturing the very conditions socialism promises to fix. If we want to keep the debate settled in capitalism's favor, we have to make it earn that verdict starting now, at the ballot box and in the boardroom.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay