Why are Americans against the idea of socialism so much?
Because we have witnessed the abuses of Socialism in eastern Europe under a system of state control which squandered resources and gathered all power into the hands of the few at the cost of the many, pretty much the opposite of the theoretical goals of that system. Equally we in America ignore socialism where it works here at home, be it public schooling, farm policy or the federal highway system. Socialism has become a whipping boy, boiled down to a black and white, Capitalism versus Socialism debate, and we cheer for the home team. The fact that from the days of the founders of the Constitution we have always had an element of socialism (before it was called Socialism) as part of the contract the government has with “we the people”, is so much part of the fabric of our society, don’t even see it.
After Socialism’s popularity from the late 1880s through 1945, we began the cold war by trying to dichotomize the world into the free, good, pro-American countries that practiced capitalism, and the authoritarian, evil, communist ones that practiced socialism. Of course this was a popular myth, since the US never really practiced laissez-faire capitalism (except on the frontier), and has shared ownership and control of business through a series of regulations and a hefty tax on profits for many years. Communism is gone (or has mutated beyond recognition) but people who have been raised with this myth continue to believe it.
