As someone who grew up in the twilight of the Cold War and vividly remembers the post-Cold War zeitgeist, I cannot forget how much socialism was lampooned by the likes of Saturday Night Live and late-night comedy hosts. Back then, it was crystal clear that socialism did not work, was immoral, and directly conflicted with America’s founding ideals.

After the 2008 financial crisis and the bailouts of too-big-to-fail banks, automakers, and airlines, I think the socialist seed was planted in the United States.

In the years since, crony capitalism has crept into many more sectors of the U.S. economy, further frustrating Main Street Americans against Wall Street and Washington.

In 2015, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) championed democratic socialism as he nearly became the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nominee.

Despite Sanders’s defeat in 2016 and 2020, democratic socialism has gained a foothold on the Left. It started as a slow burn, with media-savvy stars such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) carrying the torch.

Like Ernest Hemingway’s description of bankruptcy, democratic socialism’s grip on the Left happened in two ways: gradually, then suddenly.

Today, democratic socialism is the mainstream ideology of the Left. This is not merely my opinion; this is what the data show.

Recent polling shows that nearly three-quarters of Democratic likely voters “said democratic socialism comes closest to their viewpoint.”

“Fifty-three percent of Democratic voters said they preferred politicians described as similar to Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani, while 33 percent favored those similar to Schumer, Jeffries and Pelosi,” Politico reported last year.

Far from an outlier, this poll reinforces the notion that establishment Democrats and moderate policies are waning, whereas democratic socialist demagogues and their misguided policies are waxing.

Most frightening, democratic socialism is gaining heavy traction among the youth, even young conservatives. According to a November Rasmussen Reports survey, “a majority of voters under 40 want a democratic socialist to win the White House in the next presidential election.”

For those unaccustomed to the democratic socialist policy platform, here is a summary of the free stuff from Sanders: Medicare-for-all, free college, free childcare, free maternity leave, a universal basic income, and “government does everything it can to create a full-employment economy.”

To pay for this ambitious agenda, democratic socialists rely on the canard that billionaires and corporations pay little to no taxes. Thus, the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations can apparently foot the bill.

Above all, arguably, the democratic socialist policy plank centers upon another, even more absurd canard: climate alarmism. From the get-go, Sanders underscored that “democratic socialism … does not allow the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuel industry to destroy our environment and our planet. And it means to me that we have a moral responsibility to combat climate change and leave this planet healthy and habitable for our kids and our grandchildren.”

As such, the democratic socialists tout the Green New Deal as their policy panacea.

What’s most flummoxing about the ascension of democratic socialism on the American Left is the fact that most of its policies are generally unpopular among Americans.

Americans don’t agree that the world will end in a few years unless we abandon fossil fuels. Americans don’t want to “go green” because they realize that reliable, affordable energy is the lifeblood of society.

Most Americans also realize that free healthcare, free college, free childcare, etc., is unaffordable. Likewise, Americans largely don’t support a universal basic income or a massive federal employment program.

So, why is democratic socialism on the upswing? I believe it stems, at least partially, from the 2008 debacle coupled with former President Barack Obama’s pivot from transformation to mere moderation. Although Obama delivered Obamacare, he did not fundamentally transform the nation as he promised on the campaign trail.

In 2015, Sanders introduced democratic socialism to a stagnant Left. At the same time, Donald Trump introduced his America First agenda to a woebegone right.

The Right allowed voters to have a say in which direction the machine would move, albeit reluctantly in many cases.

On the other hand, the Left defied the voters and denied them even the choice of democratic socialism lest it upset the establishment’s absolute power.

In the years since, that strategy has backfired spectacularly. Today, democratic socialists are stuffed with cash, on the political offensive challenging and defeating establishment incumbents, and sitting in elected offices from Seattle to New York City.

Make no mistake, the democratic socialists believe their time has come. One of their chief political instruments, the Democratic Socialists of America, has already launched an “ambitious electoral agenda in 2026.”

With the prospect of more democratic socialists taking elected office across the land, I propose a litmus test for all candidates on the Left. Do you support socialism? It is a binary question, no wiggle room. Put these people on the record.

Why does this matter? Because just in case the American electorate gets amnesia on Election Day and forgets all the atrocities and misery associated with socialism and we the people get stuck under a socialist dystopia, I want to make sure any who jump on the socialist bandwagon before the wheels fall off — which they will gradually, then suddenly — can’t deny they stupidly supported socialism because they thought it to be politically advantageous at the moment.

THE ANALILIA MEJIA CAUTIONARY TALE: REPUBLICANS DESPERATELY NEED AN ANSWER TO SOCIALISM

Socialism, as history shows in excruciating detail, does not and cannot work.

Unfortunately, I fear we might have to learn that lesson the hard way in the not-too-distant future.

Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at the Heartland Institute, a conservative and libertarian public policy think tank.