Over a nearly 50-year period, one of the largest cities in America was run by socialists.
Between 1910 and 1960, the people of Milwaukee, Wisconsin elected three socialist mayors and the country's first socialist U.S. Congressman.
The documentary “America’s Socialist Experiment” recounts both the victories and failures of a unique brand of socialism in this historically conservative city.
Milwaukee’s socialist mayors were widely respected for ending corruption, improving conditions for working people, and cleaning up the environment. Socialist Mayor Dan Hoan was put on the cover of TIME, which touted Milwaukee as one of the best run cities in the country.
These socialist mayors established the nation's first municipal public housing project, pressed for an 8-hour work day, and enacted the first workers' compensation law, as well as the first iterations of what would later become Social Security.
Working with the private sector, they created an extensive public parks system, appointed the country's first director of parks and recreation, and left a legacy of government support for its citizens' quality of life.
They also established a public health strategy that doubled life expectancy in the city, which was one of the reasons Milwaukee escaped the worst of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic that ravaged other American cities.
Despite their many initiatives, the Milwaukee socialists always ran balanced budgets. But their socialist experiment was not without its failures: some programs were too optimistic and others created unintended consequences for their citizens.
Their decades-long rule in Milwaukee — the longest tenure of socialists in office anywhere in America — ended only when their once-radical plans were absorbed and incorporated into the mainstream Democratic platform. Today, both Democrats and Republicans lay claim to parts of their legacy.
What can this 20th-century experiment tell us about how socialism works in practice?
With renewed debate approaching the 2020 presidential election about the potential impact of socialist influenced policies in America, the successes and failures of Milwaukee's "Sewer Socialists" profiled in America’s Socialist Experiment offer some real-world examples for those who only know socialism as a philosophy or label.
Credits:
Boettcher + Trinklein Television Inc. Distributed by American Public Television.
