Oh my god I had a massive post written and Tumblr ate it. I don't think I have the heart to rework it entirely, so shorter (but still long) version:
Geographic separation from the rest of the world means that America doesn't have the influence of several dozen immediate neighbors to change its approach or perspective even when it really should.
Internalized American exceptionalism means a lot of people think the American way is the best way despite all evidence to the contrary. This is important because the US was founded on principles of individualism, liberty, and capitalism that stand in sharp contrast to socialist concepts.
Our most active voting population is older than 45. They can and do single-handedly swing election results in their favor even if doing so would actively damage future generations. (This is a very solidly researched theory with plenty of empirical evidence to back it up, for the record.)
For people older than 45, the Cold War was a major part of their youth. Young people might brush it off now, but the threat of nuclear war was real and Communism was genuinely scary. Socialism is not communism, but propaganda does what propaganda does, and the echoes are felt for many years after it ends...especially given how Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping lead their respective countries.
The United States has a first past the post electoral system, which means that whoever gets the most votes wins the election and there are no consolation prizes. This is a problem because it inevitably leads to a two-party system where voting for a third party actively damages a voter's interests. You can learn more about why this is the case in this fantastic short video. (Seriously, it's six and a half minutes long. Go watch it.)
Two party systems lead to extreme partisanship, which leads to people identifying so strongly with their party that they are completely incapable of seeing the truth about either party. This is how things like "Joe Biden is a Commie" come about: the Republican party paints Biden as an extremist in hopes of scaring centrists away from voting for him, while remaining deliberately blind to the actual extremists in their midst. The Democrats do the same thing with Republican candidates, for the record—neither party is blameless in this.
Politicians and parties are rational actors; that is to say, they're looking out for their own interests, which happen to be "get/stay in power and stay there." If they don't win the election, then they lose power, so they adjust their actions to attract as many voters as possible to achieve that goal. Since the largest voting population in the country dislikes the very idea of socialism and consistently votes in individually self-interested ways, there is currently no incentive for politicians or parties to veer further left, and every incentive for them to veer further right.
The easiest (edit: okay, not easy) fastest possible way to break out of this trap and get some real left-leaning stuff into our political landscape is for people younger than 45 to vote en masse, especially if they're liberal.
So. Get out there and vote in every election. Get your friends to vote, too. Fuck shit up. Show the existing parties that they need to care about what we have to say not because we're loud on social media, but because we will punch them where it hurts when voting time comes around if they don't.
Please. I'm begging you. I cannot scream loudly enough about how absolutely mind boggling it would be to political scientists (and political party leaders) if we pulled this one off.
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