Capitalism, socialism, and utopianism

Since Karl Marx's radical proposition of establishing a new society based primarily around the elimination of the bourgeoisie and the uprising of the working class, there have been an innumerable advocates, detractors, and vehement debates surrounding both sides of socialism and Communism. However, it wasn't until the Cold War that socialism was seen as more than a mere political institution or idea, but a threat. With the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union were two superpowers, and the rivalry between the two was heightened when the Bolsheviks seized power shortly after the Russian Revolution in 1917. When World War II began, the animosity between the two countries intensified, and the war grew to include a nuclear arms race, new breeds of violence, and military coalitions, but also a clash of ideologies.