So-cial-ism [soSHEkizem] noun A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
So, if we add the term "Democratic" to this word, we are putting a double emphasis on the involvement and responsibility of the community in whatever business is being owned and regulated. Let me share some examples from the community in which I grew up that were of benefit to its members in providing services that would be difficult to acquire in the community if profit were the sole motivation behind the operation of the business. That's because in the small Arizona town where I grew up, there would not have been enough business to make a profit if that were the motivation behind providing some of the services.
The Hospital District
The local hospital, an essential part of health care in this community, because it had a large retired population, and was located next to a busy interstate, was especially necessary because it provided an emergency room and a level 4 trauma center, operated the local general practice clinic with three physicians and a couple of NP's, and provided acute inpatient services and care. It's a 26 bed facility that basically follows up on patients who enter through the ER.
It started out as a private hospital, operated by the local medical clinic doctors, but when a new facility was needed in the late 1960's, a hospital district was formed that included the city limits and a radius of about ten miles into the surrounding rural area, a total population of about 10,000. The hospital district's income comes from property taxes that are assessed within the boundaries of the district and it covers everything related to the operation of the building, maintenance, custodial service, utilities, purchase of equipment and any staff other than medical personnel, so that these operational costs do not have to come from income derived from patient care.
Medical services are provided on a contract basis with a non-profit, rural health care organization that provides nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, certified nursing assistants, doctors and clerical personnel. The same organization also has contracts with two other small town hospitals in the same county, and some of the personnel, mainly the doctors who are specialists, are shared with the other two. Because the tax dollars cover the other expenses, the prices of medical services are much lower than they are in a private, corporate owned hospital. And there is a big advantage in being able to provide specialists available in the community instead of patients having to drive 50 miles or more to see one.
This fits the definition of socialism. It is a government operated business which takes tax dollars and spreads out the cost of operation to provide a full service, rural hospital that would not exist if the hospital district and tax dollars were not available.
The Electric Cooperative
The electricity provider to this community, as well as to several other nearby towns and rural areas, is a rural electric cooperative. Everyone who gets their electric power from the cooperative is considered a member of the cooperative, and have the privilege of attending an annual meeting and voting for the board of directors, and the budget. There are about 70,000 total customers, representing about 21,000 electrical hook ups in the area served by the cooperative.
The cooperative collectively owns the infrastructure needed to distribute electricity. It employs about a half dozen dispatchers who sit in their computer room and purchase electricity off the grid at the best prices they can negotiate. The power is generated and distributed by a cooperative which owns its own generating plant and distributes what it produces on the grid. So the rate that the cooperative's customers pay is the rate that it has negotiated with the provider, plus its operating cost. Any amount over and above the budgeted cost of operation is divided up and credited to every member's January electric bill.
What makes this socialism is that the customers own the cooperative, and determine its business operation by electing the board that runs it. Because of operational costs and the fact that this mostly rural area doesn't have a large number of customers, the member-owned cooperative provides electricity at relatively low cost. Had it not been for the cooperative, there would be areas of the county where development would not be possible because electric service would not be available.
Of course, within the area of the cooperative's operation, there is no other choice of electricity providers. But, the average electric bill in the cooperative area is 10% less than what customers of the private, for-profit electric providers in other parts of the state charge, since the cooperative does not make a profit or pay stockholder dividends. And I've seen bonus credits on those January bills add up to as much as $150 at times.
The Farmer's and Rancher's Cooperative
The rural area around the community where I grew up is primarily agricultural in nature. It is a big beef, poultry and pork producing area, with a lot of traditional ranches, and there are a lot of family-owned dairies in the area, along with several big hydroponic tomato farms and poultry farms with egg production. Back in the 1970's, as big corporations began buying up these kinds of family owned businesses, and then cutting their prices to undercut the family owners and force them to sell out at a lower price, the farmers and ranchers in the area formed a cooperative for the purpose of pooling their resources and then being able to sell their products in higher volume to compete with the corporate food producers.
The cooperative members elect a board of directors to represent them and the board then calculates the amount of produce or milk or eggs that are potentially being produced and then sets a competitive wholesale price which it uses to negotiate contracts directly with the major grocery store chains. This eliminates the "middle man," and increases the profits to the farmers and ranchers who are the producers.
There are those who would say that this isn't socialism, because participation is voluntary, but the fact of the matter is that virtually all of the private farm and ranch owners in the area are members of the coop because they get more money for their products than they would if they sold to a middle man distributor. But it fits the definition of business owned and regulated by the community as a whole. And one of the benefits of the cooperative to the people in the community that are not in the agriculture business is that surplus goods are sold directly to the public through a coop-owned store, eliminating much of the cost of distribution. The selection is limited, but the price is very reasonable.
Most People Wouldn't Think of This as Socialism
But, it is socialism. By definition, in its purest form.
If not for socialism, this community would probably not have a hospital, not even an emergency room, and perhaps one or two general practice doctors, if they had some kind of loyalty to the community. And while it would have electric service without the cooperative, the cost of providing it to the area, would make the electric bills of residents much higher. The family-owned dairies and farms are slowly being bought out, or disappearing, as each succeeding generation is able to go off to college and they frequently don't take over the family business, so the culture there is changing as it is all over the country. But it provided some cost effective alternatives for the entire community for decades.
It's a conservative community. It has, in the past, seen vote totals in elections for Republicans go as high as 55%, though in 2020 and 2024 those totals were slightly lower. They just see this as the way to have necessary services, but they wouldn't call it or identify it as socialism. But it is. It is socialism, brought about by the will of the people. Democratic socialism, if you will.
This is how Democratic Socialism works. It requires looking at the humanity that is involved, rather than simply relying on a profit motive, understanding that some human values cannot be measured by monetary value. What does it say about people, and their patriotism and pride, when they are willing to let a rural hospital close, not because there is no longer a need for it, but because it can no longer generate a profit?
Democratic Socialism is about placing the higher value of our society and our country and its communities on its people, rather than on profit. It's not about eliminating private enterprise, it is about stepping in where private enterprise is not willing to invest, and providing for what we, as Americans, believe are basic human rights.
We, as Americans, believe in some fundamental rights and core values that transcend a transactional existence. Our founders believed that government was created to protect the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is not to guarantee that everyone who invests in society will profit from it.
Are there Democratic Socialists who would like to see a much larger segment of our culture become socialist? Of course. But I think the basic values and principles here are to ensure that those who have benefitted from the collective labor and effort of the nation's people and have become wealthy from profit that they earned because of the security and the opportunity that everyone contributes to providing should contribute in proportion to how much they have benefitted from it. And that does require some redistribution of the wealth, via a fair and equitable taxation.
It would not be accurate, or fair, to call these folks in rural Arizona, who are using socialist principles to provide for needs in their community, communists. Nor is it accurate or fair to call those members of the Democratic party who are progressives advocating for Democratic Socialism communists, either.
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