Remember we had a Socialist Party in this country. Eugene V. Debs got 8% of the vote in 1908—from a prison cell!

Their platform was extremely radical (for America): The federal government to be financed by a graduated net income tax; Workman’s compensation; Public schools to be run by elected officials and paid for by taxes; The Initiative, Referendum, and Recall; Parks and recreation areas to be financed by the public; and direct election of U.S. senators.

Debs’ showing frightened the main parties so much that the Democrats and the Roosevelt wing of the Republican party adopted it in toto. The Taft wing gradually regained control of the Republican party, and now they’re trying to destroy most of these reforms, but for most of the 20th century we accepted these things as the basis of a civilized existence. There’s certainly nothing radical about any of them in International political terms.