This election cycle has been a wild, unpredictable ride for many Americans. We saw the rise of the first popular candidate to use 'socialism' in a sense that wasn't a slur since Eugene V. Debs with Bernie Sanders, we saw the possible birth of a new American dynasty with Hillary Clinton, and lastly we saw the vitriolic, racist underbelly of the U.S. with Donald J. Trump. However, I'd like to take a moment to focus on Sanders. More specifically, I'd like to focus on his use of socialism and how it has gone from a cold era dirty word to something being embraced by many of the youth of this nation.

But before I get into why we need socialism, I want to briefly explain it's core principles. In it's most strict definition, socialism is a stepping stone towards communism. It focuses on educating the proletariat class (low/middle working class) and giving them the power to govern themselves and live lives of equal luxury, as well as focusing on stripping power and wealth from the bourgeois (the wealthy and elite ruling class). For a quick example of what type of people are in those two divisions, the working class is the blue collar worker whether it be in a factory, at a school, or even in the local fast food joint. The bourgeois are the people like Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner, Bill Gates, and any other incredibly rich members of society.

The reason people are divided into workers and elites rather than the lower, middle, and upper classes that we have in capitalism is because Marx believed in his original manifesto that unless we have a socialist society, there will always be a struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors, the workers and the owners, the average person and the entrenched politicians, and so on and so forth. The reason for this struggle is the fact that labor under capitalism is wholly unfair, and gives profit to people who do none of the work, but happen to be lucky enough to own the factory/workplace in which the worker produces or sells goods.

However, this is an extremely basic look at the class struggle. Marx's and Engels original works are a great resource for expanding knowledge on the economic aspect, however.

So what does the constant class struggle have to do with expanding socialism in the U.S.? Well, socialism usually entails some form of wealth redistribution, meaning the blue collar workers now benefit from their own labor rather than the owners of production benefiting. A democratic control of the workplace is usually called for as well, eliminating the need for corporate structure and bosses who do none of the work yet gain all of the profit off the labors of the working class.

So why do we need socialism in the U.S.? Trump's campaign has shown the awful, ugly side of America that is filled with racist rhetoric not seen in such large quantities since the pre-Civil Rights movement era. This new brand of alt-right neofascism is a huge danger to minorities across the U.S. Socialism is important to implement as it is the only sure way to protect the rights of those people and to shut down the depressingly large alt-right movement. LGBTQ+ rights are among some of the most important issues for most socialists, as well as minorities' and women's rights.

Economically, it is important as we are currently living in a period of time where the wealth gap is growing exponentially and where minimum wage laws are frequently shut down by republican politicians. Jobs being automated is another huge problem that only socialism has a real answer for. In capitalism, the loss of human jobs in favor of automated would simply cause more unemployment and more unskilled jobs, creating an even larger poor class, whereas in socialism, all people would reap the benefits of new technology. Workers whose jobs become automated would be fairly compensated and given assistance until new jobs are found that are in similar fields or require similar skills.

If you are interested in joining the ever-growing Socialist movement in the U.S.A., consider joining a socialist party, organization, or labor union. Democratic Socialists of America is a great organization that helps organize protests all over the U.S. and is experiencing rapid growth. They have added over 1000 members in recent weeks. Socialist Alternative is a great socialists political party that is responsible for electing the first socialist mayor of a major city in decades in Seattle. SAlt is also involved in numerous protests and rallies across the U.S. and is actively fighting for rights of all minorities.

As for labor unions, most general labor unions tend to be leftist, and in an area like Southern Illinois, there are bound to be plenty of union offices where one can go sign up.