Are socialism and Americanism compatible? Look to history.

There’s a lot of divisive rhetoric these days around socialism. On the one hand, socialism is increasingly attractive to Americans on the political left. Whereas very few mainstream or successful politicians even a decade ago would have openly espoused socialism as a legitimate political path for America, today politicians and voters (in the Democratic party, at least) are becoming more and more comfortable with describing themselves as socialist. Meanwhile, the Republican party in the U.S. has doubled down on its claims that forms of socialism are not…