The public relationship with the ideology of socialism has changed a lot since it was first brought to the mass media's attention. Back in 2009, the fascination of Marxist ideals came to the public view after the TEA Party used it as a derogatory term. It turns out the raw research behind this market philosophy is much more complex than protest signs led on.
The phrase from Karl Marx "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs," strikes as a simple formula to base any productive society on. Its idea of sharing the services that kept us alive were already in place in some aspects, so why not expand them in times of need? In theory, creating an equal and undivided society was a noble goal to work towards. In practice, several interpretations have produced vastly different results.
For example, a democratic socialist is what Bernie Sanders calls himself. It would be unfortunate for this to be confused with a national socialist, which is what Nazis called themselves. These ideologies called for a balance across all boards of society for common challenges to be overcome. However, different countries have different methods for rallying the collective masses. What is held in common, however, is the class struggle. The suffering of the poor was attributed directly to the wealthy class that reaped the benefits of someone else's poverty. The contrast between the few elite and the mass populace can be painted as a conflict within democracy. Skeptics fear the mob takeover as a way of making slaves for the tyranny of the majority.
The Occupy Wall Street or 99% movement that started in 2011 was an embodiment of these sentiments. Many thought the country was about to have a revolution against the corrupt corporate rulers. The rebellious crowds of activists, journalists, laid-off workers, students, anarchists, community organizers and hippies gathered in New York with a quest to stick it to the man. But as the protests dragged on, the discourse resulting in many arrests and traffic impediments produced nothing concrete. People became disenfranchised as winter and riot control cops took their toll. How could the united people have failed to take down the modern bourgeoisie? Egg ran down the face of the aspiring revolutionaries as the capitalist system prevailed. It was the same system many of the demonstrators held responsible for the recession, and the reason reforms were desperately needed to ensure our collective well-being.
With this current presidency reaching its end, the populace view has carried an openly socialist candidate to the front lines of the presidential campaign. He has stolen the hearts of many young voters, who see socialism as a seductive tool for improving society instead of seeing it as the "slippery slope" critics have painted it as. The rise and acceptance of this view is more than symbolic. According to polls, socialism has a serious shot at having a man in power to make it the law of the land. This cultural shift is due to come to its climactic showdown when the socialist platform either gets the democratic nomination or becomes another runner-up in the history books.
