Even though many North Dakotans have been bad-mouthing socialism in recent years, two North Dakota socialistic institutions have refuted this knee-jerk reaction to faulty economic theory.

With record profits, the North Dakota Mill and Elevator – largest in the United States with a gross annual business of $800,000,000 – demonstrated that socialism works.

It wasn’t too long ago that a state senator from Minot made it a biennial legislative issue to sell the Mill and Elevator. 

Because the Mill and Elevator has been so successful management was able to hand out $25,000 “gainsharing” checks to employees at a July company picnic. 

The state-run Bank of North Dakota has been a godsend for a large number of opportunities that were snatched up for farmers, banks, economic development, student loans and a host of other programs tailored to North Dakota’s needs.

The mood at the Mill has changed to the positive since I was last involved for the George Sinner administration when the ND Industrial Commission delegated me to monitor labor negotiations at the Mill.

The negative management at the time hired an out-of-state union buster to negotiate on behalf of the Mill. His last best offer was inadequate and I ended up writing the new contract that protected the employees. 

Even those who bad-mouth socialism end up bragging when they tell newcomers about the state-owned Mill and Bank. 

Both institutions struggled in the 1920s to survive, partly because of scandals and partly because of hostile politics. 

While we have no record of a public referendum on the Mill in the special election October 28, 1921, the Bank eked out a victory with 51% of the vote. 

Running concurrently in the same election with the proposal to abolish the Bank was a move to recall the members of the Industrial Commission who controlled the Bank. While voting to keep the Bank, voters threw out the governor, attorney general and commissioner of agriculture. 

This left the Bank in the hands of its adversaries. The new anti-Bank Industrial Commission, however, read public opinion favoring the Bank and decided to keep the institution. 

The Nonpartisan League, then a branch of the Republican Party, sponsored creation of the Mill and the Bank because of the influence of socialists in the organization. The core of the League consisted of socialists who drifted away from their own party and into the NPL.

The success of the Mill and Bank should refute the bug-a-boo about socialism that has stymied adoption of new programs to help the less fortunate in our midst. 

One of the greatest needs for socialism at the present time is health care. The present system is leaving too many people in cemeteries prematurely simply because the system isn’t adequate.

There are many facets of health care that could use a little socialism e.g. maybe it’s time for the state to become more involved in the pharmaceutical industry. 

We hear a lot about people dying because they can’t afford the expense of medications while the pharmaceutical industry is raking in record profits, sometimes with government subsidies. 

Of course, subsidies are socialism by a different name but even those who are beneficiaries of subsidies shudder when some demagogue disparages socialism. It seems that socialism is good for me but not for thee. 

The outstanding success of the Bank and the Mill should tamp down some of the fears generated about socialism. If some is good maybe more is better.