by Jacob G. Hornberger

June 26, 2026

American conservatives, as well as a large percentage of libertarians, are up in arms over the soaring popularity of democratic socialism. The growing popularity of socialism is best reflected in the recent political success of New York City Mayor Kohran Mamdani, who is a proud self-described democratic socialist. Not only did Mamdani win the mayor’s race, his hand-selected socialist candidates in recent Democratic Party primaries in New York succeeded in defeating well-established incumbent Democratic candidates. Of course, there is also the great and growing popularity of self-labeled socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alejandra Ocasio Cortez.

The increasing popularity of democratic socialism is causing the American right-wing, as well as many libertarians, to go bananas. After the Mamdani candidates won, President Trump declared, “America the beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country!!!” At the same time, some rightwing commentators and libertarian commentators are feverishly reminding people of the millions of people who have died as a result of socialism and communism.

I find all of this fierce reaction among both conservatives and libertarians to the soaring popularity of socialism, especially among young people, to be quite amusing. Why? Because right-wingers and a very large percentage of libertarians are among the fiercest supporters of socialist programs that one could ever find … but with one caveat: No one is permitted to refer to such socialist programs as “socialism.” Everyone is expected to refer to such socialist programs as “free-enterprise.” None dare call it socialism.

Let’s look at some notable examples of this phenomenon.

1. Social Security. This is the crown jewel of America’s socialist programs. The concept of using government to take money from people to whom it belongs and give it to people to whom it does not belong originated among socialists in Germany in the late 1800s. The concept was ultimately imported into the United States and became a permanent part of America’s economic system in the 1930s during the regime of President Franklin Roosevelt.

One hundred percent of American conservatives believe in and favor Social Security. I would estimate that around 90 percent of American libertarians also believe in and favor this socialist program. Oh, they might criticize it. They might call it a “Ponzi scheme.” They might claim that it’s headed toward bankruptcy. They might say it’s not viable. They might lament that it won’t be there for younger Americans.

But suppose one were to pose the following question to right-wingers and libertarians: Do you favor the immediate repeal of Social Security? The answer would overwhelmingly be “Absolutely not! We need to continue this program for America’s elders. Too many Americans are now hopelessly dependent on the program. We can’t let them die in the streets.”

Oh, to be sure, there are lots of plans by both right-wingers and libertarians on how to save Social Security, including a plan by some libertarians to convert it to a fascist system. In fact, just last week, the New York Times published an op-ed written by Republican U.S Senator Bernie Moreno and Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren presenting their joint plan for saving Social Security.

But remember the important point here: None dare call it socialism. Instead, Social Security is to be considered a free-enterprise program that was adopted as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal program that, as everyone knows, saved America’s free-enterprise system during the Great Depression.

2. The phenomenon is no different with Medicare and Medicaid, two massive socialist programs that came into existence as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” programs. Like Social Security, the concept of government-provided or government-guaranteed healthcare originated among German socialists.

Again, 100 percent of American right-wingers and I would estimate about 90 percent of libertarians would respond to a proposal calling for the immediate repeal of these socialist programs with, “No way! Medicare and Medicaid are now a permanent and beneficial part of America’s ‘free-enterprise system.’”

And remember the caveat: None dare call it socialism.

Oh, to be sure, conservatives and libertarians have their respective plans to reform, fix, improve, and modify Medicare and Medicaid and the decades-long, ongoing, never-ending, perpetual healthcare crisis that these two socialist programs have brought to America. You know, reforms like Health-Savings Accounts, Direct Primary Care, telemedicine, price transparency, prescription drug competition, and many others, all of which leave these two massive socialist programs — Medicare and Medicaid — intact.

3. Public (i.e., government) schooling. It would be difficult to find a better example of a government program that is based on the core socialist principle of central planning than public schooling. State and local governments plan, in a top-down, command-and-control manner, the “education” (that is, the indoctrination) of millions of children. The system gets its “customers” through mandatory-attendance laws and its funding from the forcible collection of taxes. Students are inculcated with mindsets of deference to authority, obedience to orders, and regimentation.

It’s all essentially army-lite — a massive socialist program, one supported by both right-wingers and a large percentage of libertarians. But keep in mind: None dare call it socialism. Public schooling is always to be considered as part and parcel of America’s “free-enterprise system.”

Oh, and let’s not forget something important: Free public schooling was one of the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto.

4. America’s immigration-control system and the deadly and destructive immigration police state that comes with it. Like with public schooling, America’s immigration-control system is based on the core socialist principle of central planning. Rather than rely on free-market principles, including the law of supply and demand, to determine the movements of people across borders, America uses government officials to plan the numbers and credentials of immigrants from each country who are permitted to enter the United States.

The result is what the free-market, libertarian economist Ludwig von Mises called “planned chaos.” What better term to describe the decades-long, ongoing, never-ending, perpetual immigration crisis along the border — and the massive, ever-growing, totalitarian-like, and communist-like immigration police state that comes with it, which U.S. officials are now expanding nationwide?

But don’t forget the important precept: None dare call it socialism. Better to simply call it “securing the border,” keeping America “safe,” stopping the “invaders,” drug dealers, Muslims, and terrorists, and protecting “national security.”

5. The Federal Reserve and paper money. Almost all right-wingers favor America’s monetary system, which is also based on the socialist principle of central planning. Here, fortunately, there is less enthusiasm among libertarians. I would estimate that at least 90 percent of libertarians favor “ending the Fed” and either establishing a free-market monetary system or restoring the gold standard.

Again, however, the caveat applies to right-wingers and the relatively small number of libertarians who still favor continuing the Fed and America’s paper-money system: None dare call it socialism.

Many of Karl Marx’s followers knew that it would be difficult to induce people to adopt socialism in one revolutionary swoop. Thus, they developed the concept of “evolutionary socialism,” whereby people could be induced to adopt socialism in stages with an embrace of socialist programs. That concept has proven to be a tremendous success here in the United States, including among conservatives, progressives, and many libertarians … so long as none dare call it socialism.