America needs to nationalize its banking system if it wishes to survive this economic crisis.

On Monday, March 2, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages went below 6800 points for the first time since 1997. That means anyone who has a 401(k) or any money at all in the stock market has seen incredible amounts of money lost, in some cases 50 percent of people’s savings have disappeared.

Nationalization of banks is, essentially, a socialist idea. Many Americans are scared of anything socialist, communist, or fascist.

What most Americans don’t realize is that we already have many socialistic ideas implemented in our society. First, we have a progressive tax system, which taxes the rich more than the poor. We have price caps and floors put on items sold in our country, we have the FTC, SEC, FDA, which all regulate various markets, a very socialist idea.

With the TARP funds (Troubled Asset Relief Program) being spent on so many different banks, the government and by extension the citizenry, already has such a huge stake in the success or failure of said banks. Going for full scale nationalization wouldn’t be such a big step up, and more than that, may be an inevitable course of action in order to prevent these banks from failing.

Many commentators argue that the government should let banks fail, that failure is a natural part of capitalism, that it is healthy because it allows a company to restructure itself. What these commentators don’t understand is that we don’t operate in a totally capitalistic society.

The recession facing America is so unprecedented in scale and intensity that no one knows what would happen if these large international institutions fail. At best, it would worsen the recession, at worst, it could drive the country into a depression, which many economists are hinting has already occurred.

We cannot let banks like Citigroup and Bank of America fail. Not as a payout to corporate CEOs or Wall Street, or as a bailout, but as a means of protecting the American people from further poverty, unemployment, and lack credit.

Another major argument that detractors have against nationalization of the banks has to do with the sheer burden of cost that will be put on the government and tax payers. We are essentially signing our grandchildren onto trillions of dollars of debt.

Our national debt is a huge issue, with the new budget poised to raise it above $12 trillion. But we really don’t have a choice in this unprecedented recession, and Sweden seems to be doing just fine with their nationalized banks.