Mason Weyland

English 1010-028
Nathan Cole
May 2, 2017
Socialism, is it good for America?
Introduction
When I was looking for a good debatable topic to research, I wanted something that would be

fun and entertaining for me to research. As I was looking, I was also thinking what would be a

good topic for me? I came across some other topics that were kind of interesting, but I couldnt

really see them going anywhere. Then I thought, what I want to learn more about with this

assignment, and be a good debatable topic to research. So I thought what is recent and

interesting? As I was googling I eventually came across socialism. Today the Scandinavian

countries are socialists and even Canada. This topic is relevant because in the upcoming

presidential race there is a Democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders. In the United States we are not

socialist but capitalists. There is a lot of uneven distribution of wealth within the country and

people dont like that. In a democratic socialist government the government controls major

industries. I wanted to learn more of this topic, so I decided to research this for my paper.

Acemoglu, Daron. A Scandinavian U.S. Would be a problem for the global economy.
The New York Times. 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Summary: In this article, Daron Acemoglu starts out by explaining how the Scandinavian

country Denmark, is the most heavily taxed country in the world with the rich paying 55 percent

of their income in tax to support social services. This might be ideal for some people because

there is less inequality. So this appeals to a lot of people. Denmark unlike the U.S. is much

smaller and less diverse. After this Acemoglu states that Denmark is technologically behind the
U.S., because of this Denmark benefits from and relies on the technology American

entrepreneurs create. These technologies are consumed by the Danes and are built on by Danish

companies. Being the social welfare state that it is there is a far less reward for similar

entrepreneurship. If the U.S. were to raise the taxes to the level of Denmark it would reduce the

reward for entrepreneurs, and discourage risk taking. This could have negative consciences for

growth and prosperity in the U.S. and in the world. After the author explains all of this he ends

with a quote from Hillary Clinton We are not Denmark, we are the United States of America.
Analysis: Daron Acemoglu was born in Turkey. Acemoglu attended The University of York in

the U.K... It was there were he got a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also got his Master of Science

in econometrics and Mathematical Economics. Then in 1992 he got his Ph.D. from London

school of Economics. Now Acemoglu is a professor of economics at MIT. He establishes

credibility with his education. He has dedicated his life to the study of economics.
Assessment: This article by Acemoglu is very helpful for my research topic. This article helps

high light some economic issues that could arise if socialism came to America. The strongest

point in his article was when he was talking about how the U.S. economy and the worlds

economy could crash.

Baldwin, Peter. A U.S. more like Denmark? Be careful what you wish for.
The New York Times. 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015
Summary: In this article, Peter Baldwin starts out by asking Can the United States be more like

Denmark, or any of the other Scandinavian country? Well of course we could, we would only

need to follow a few steps first. First we would need to pay more in taxes, and that burden would

fall mainly on the middle class. He then gives us an example of what this is like in Denmark.

Denmark plumbers pay the same 50 percent income tax as hedge fund managers. Even on

purchases there is a 25 percent value added tax on most purchases, 180 percent on a car, far

above the 7 percent average sales tax in most states. Than Baldwin states that the pretax per

capita percent of the United States, is much higher than Denmarks. In general things cost more
in Scandinavian countries than they do in the United States. Just a simple coffee cost a third

more in Denmark than the U.S., and a dozen of eggs is 40 percent more. In the United States the

housing market is relatively cheap compared to Denmarks. The houses in Denmark are much

smaller than the ones in the U.S So in the U.S. you get a bigger house for less money. But on

the other hand Danish university students have their tuition paid for them by the state. But they

dont have a say on what they will study in school.

Analysis: Peter Baldwin establishes credibility with education. Peter attended Yale in 1978 to get

his B.A. and after that he attended Harvard University to get his Ph.D... His research focus has

been on the development of the modern state. Peter is now a global distinguished professor at

NYUs center for European and Mediterranean studies.

Assessment: This article by Peter Baldwin is helpful because it gives you more insight on how

the taxes are in Denmark. Now I know that the middle class would be paying the most in taxes.

Also what their food and housing market is like.

Dreier, Peter. What is Democratic Socialism, American Style? CNN. 28 Oct. 2015. Web.
16 Nov. 2015
Summary: This article by Peter Dreier starts off by saying now that Bernie Sanders is now

running for President, the word socialist is now being thrown around. Few Americans know what

it is or what Sanders means when he describes himself as a democratic socialist. After this he

then goes on about the history of socialism in America. In the early 1900s socialist led the

movement for womens suffrage, child labor laws, consumer protection laws and the progressive

income tax. In 1916 Victor Berger a congressman from Milwaukee, first created the idea for

social security. But his idea did not go very far, but in the middle of the depression President

Franklin D. Roosevelt got congress to enact Social Security. Most Americans did not like it at

first and called it un-American. But today most Americans believes that Social Security is a very

good thing. Much of FDRs New Deal legislation was about minimum wage, workers right to

form unions and public works programs to create jobs for the unemployed. All of these were
espoused by American socialists. Socialists were in the front of the civil rights movement, they

founded the NAACP in 1909. Also the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Socialist have always pushed

for a universal health insurance plan. This eventually lead to Medicare and Medicaid in the

1960s, and Obamacare today. So socialism has been in America for quite some time, and has

helped us along the way.

Analysis: Peter Dreier establishes his credibility with his education. He got his B.A. at Syracuse

University. He then got his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Peter Dreier is now a

Professor of politics at Occidental College.

Assessment: This article helps in the way that it shows you that socialism is already in America.

Its not like it is in Denmark, but it is still here. Its more democratic than it is socialism.
Henwood, Doug. By almost any measure, Denmark works well. The New York Times.
20 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

Summary: In this article, Doug Henwood starts out by saying that Denmark has entered the

presidential race thanks to Bernie Sanders. Denmarks education system lags behind its neighbor

Finland according to the O.E.C.D.(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).

But it scores high on most social indicators. Denmark has the most equal distribution of income

of 31 countries covered by the O.E.C.D., and the second lowest poverty rate, and the United

States is the third highest in both measures. After this Henwood goes over what their income is

like. The Danes enjoy high incomes, but work fewer hours to earn them. The average person in

Denmark works about 1,438 hours per year. While the average American works about 1,788

hours per year. 73 percent of the Danes have jobs, while only 68 percent of Americans have jobs.

Denmark also ranks at the top on surveys of population happiness, and the U.S. is well down in

the upper middle ranks. He then goes on about their G.D.P Denmark high burden tax rate

stifles their innovation. Denmark spends in higher share of G.D.P. than the U.S. does. The share

of its labor force employed as researchers is 70 percent higher than ours. Denmark also has a
much higher internet access with 92 percent of Danish households are wired, compared to the

U.S. with 72 percent are connected to the internet.

Analysis: Doug Henwood establishes credibility by his education. Doug went to Yale and got a

B.A. in English. In 1976-79, Henwood did some graduate work in English at the University of

Virginia.
Assessment: This article by Doug Henwood is helpful in some ways. Like how he tells us what

their unemployment and what their G.D.P. is like. Its also helpful because he tells you that their

education system is much better than the United Stated because they have free college. They

have much less educational freedom than students in the United States, because they are put into

classes that will benefit the government. This system is not all that bad because then you wont

have to sit through to pointless classes.

Marsden, Rachel. Socialism fails yet again. The Baltimore Sun. 21 Jan. 2012. Web.
17 Nov. 2015.
Summary: In this article, Rachel Marsden starts out by stating that socialism has once again put

a silver fork in itself. She is talking about Frances debt, and how France will have to pay it back

at an even higher interest rate. At the time this article was written, nobody was paying back any

debts. She then states that to pay off any debts, you need to have money. And when was the last

time France had any extra cash laying around? She then compares France to an addict whose

pumping capitol into his veins faster than Germany, China, and Russia can slip him a tenner.

After this she states that if capitalism is preceded to not be working in America, its because it

isnt capitalist enough. Its because of a lack of oversight has led to corporate welfare and an un

level playing field or, socialistic government intervention in business. After this she goes on to

talk about the U.S. health care system. If the U.S. health care system has problems, its because

of private insures heavily lobbying the government, in turn to meddle when its palm is
adequately greased. That too is a problem for which more capitalism, less government and a free

market is a cure. This is proof that this system long considered the model for successful

socialism has been choked out.

Analysis: Rachel Marsden establishes her credibility with her Bachelor of Science degree from

Simon Fraser University. After this in 2002 she took a political journalism training course at the

National Journalism Center in Washington DC.

Assessment: This article by Rachel Marsden, is not really that helpful in my research. It doesnt

really explain whats so bad about socialism. It just talks about health care and how it lobbies the

government.

Will, George, F. Will: Bernie Sanders socialist charade. The Washington Post.
4 Jun.2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Summary: This author starts off by trying to tell you what Bernie Sanders actually is. Is he a

socialist or is he independent. Actually he is neither. He caucuses with Senate Democrats and

attends their policy lunches, his committee assignments count against the Democrats quotas he

reliably votes with Democrats and he is seeking the Democrats presidential nomination. He is a

Democrat. If he is a socialist, then who isnt? In the olden days, socialist meant something

robust. Government ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange. Then,

voters and reality being resistant to such socialism, the idea was diluted to mean just government

ownership of an economys commanding heights, principally heavy industries, like coalmines, or

the railroad.
Analysis: George F. Will establishes credibility with education. He attended Trinity College in

Hartford, Connecticut and got a B.A. in religion. After this he subsequently studied philosophy,

politics, and economics at Magdalen College, Oxford. It was there where he received a B.A. and

a M.A. After he went to Princeton University and received a M.A. and a Ph.D. in politics.
Assessment: This article by George F. Will is helpful because it clarifies what Bernie Sanders is.

Now we know that he is not a pure socialist, or an independent. He is a Democrat.

Conclusion: This wraps up my annotated bibliography. I had fun researching and learning about

socialism and if it would be good for America. From what I learned is that a little bit of socialism

could be good for America, but not too much. If there is too much socialism, some people would

get outraged by the high taxation.

Work Cited
Acemoglu, Daron. A Scandinavian U.S. Would be a problem for the global economy.
The New York Times. 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Baldwin, Peter. A U.S. more like Denmark? Be careful what you wish for.
The New York Times. 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015
Dreier, Peter. What is Democratic Socialism, American Style? CNN. 28 Oct. 2015. Web.
16 Nov. 2015
Henwood, Doug. By almost any measure, Denmark works well. The New York Times.
20 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Marsden, Rachel. Socialism fails yet again. The Baltimore Sun. 21 Jan. 2012. Web.
17 Nov. 2015.
Will, George, F. Will: Bernie Sanders socialist charade. The Washington Post.
4 Jun.2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.