In capitalist America, millions of workers never get a vacation. But for the past century, bringing sunshine and leisure to the masses has been among the socialist movement’s greatest achievements.

Many Americans not only have to work in person but also can’t get time off from their jobs. US employers are not required to provide workers with any vacation time at all. On top of that, the costs of hotels, flights, or summer camp for the kids are sources of stress, at best, and, at worst, totally prohibitive. Many beaches and forests are privately owned or difficult to access.

Summer is a delightful and always much-anticipated time of year, but our current economic arrangements present so many obstacles to its full enjoyment. It doesn’t have to be this way.

In much of the world, all beaches are public. French law prohibits private beaches, and the same is true not only in communist Cuba but in Mexico and numerous other countries.

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