Scare Tactics Backfire: Socialists Gain Popularity

Tea Party and Republican strategists who've been quick to label everything from the economic stimulus to health care reform with the dreaded word "socialist" are inadvertently bringing new interest and attention to the cause they claim to fear and oppose. The Democratic Socialists of America partly credits increased attention on socialism for a 64% rise in memberships between 2008 and 2009. The DSA party now has nearly 7,000 US members, and the 1,000-member Socialist Party USA has seen new chapters pop up in Kansas and Oklahoma. “Suddenly there are more people who want to know what it actually is,” said retired Louisville professor Fred Hicks, head of the a socialist group whose members seek more government regulation of business, health care and wages. Others say interest has once again been piqued by the recent banking crisis. Read the full article in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
(More socialism stories.)