Letter published in February Mensa Bulletin:
Socialism’s 20th Century Track Record’ from John White (Nov./Dec., p. 10) perhaps needs some further expansion.
I was first introduced to socialism while living in 1950s
Milwaukee. I was born in Milwaukee just two years before the city's third
Socialist Mayor took office. Frank Zeidler was Milwaukee's third
Socialist mayor (after Emil Seidel [1910-12] and Daniel Hoan [1916-40]), making
Milwaukee the largest American city to elect three Socialists to its highest
office.
Zeidler, a member of the then Socialist Party of America,
served three terms from April 20, 1948, to April 18, 1960. During his time
in office, the city built new fire stations, repaved roads, and established
Wisconsin's first educational television station. He also oversaw the construction
of low-income and veterans' housing and implemented city beautification
programs.
Jobs proliferated, especially in major manufacturing (Allis
–Chalmers etc.) while the Breweries hired thousands with excellent pay and
benefits, including health care. Housing abounded as well, affordable housing
off of Greenfield Ave. and Teutonia and in other suburbs to the north and west.
Parks, meanwhile, were the envy of many other cities for their beautiful
layouts, amenities and services. I can still recall going to Washington Park
(across the street from where my family lived on 48th and Cherry Streets) on
the 4th of July for band performances and later fireworks. I also enjoyed going
to the Washington Park Zoo as often as I could, especially to visit the
denizens of the Reptile House.
Crime was almost non-existent, despite Milwaukee reaching a population of 747,
000 by 1960. Zeidler also provided health care through the city, so no one
needed to go broke to get any treatment. Like all REAL Socialists, Zeidler
believed health care was a right, not merely having health
insurance!. Education also benefited, and Milwaukee’s schools became some of
the finest – not just Catholic but public schools as well, thanks to a higher
local taxation rate, and not merely property taxes, which Zeidler knew would
hit the elderly hardest.
Even today, most of those who lived in Beer City back then
remember what Zeidler did for the city, and are averse – as I am – to
indiscriminately trash socialism. Too often just conflating it with
Marxism or communism.
Philip A.. Stahl
Colorado Springs, CO 80917
#0011448529
--------------------------------
See Also:
by Robert Reich | July 16, 2026 - 5:25am | permalink
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
Quietly and without any fanfare, the Trump regime is becoming a shareholder or profit-sharer in an array of corporations thought to be critical to the nation’s security.
For example, in one of the most remarkable turnarounds in corporate history, the U.S. chipmaker Intel’s shares have more than quadrupled in value since March 2025. The stock has surged 464 percent in the past 12 months, with the company hitting a market cap of $608.7 billion.
A year ago, Intel was on life support. Many predicted its death. What happened?Intel’s rebirth is partly due to the AI boom, which requires huge quantities of computer chips known as CPUs, which are Intel’s specialty.
And:
Brane Space: Time for The Right/ Reepos To Stop Their Bedwetting About Mamdani's Socialism
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