I told a friend of mine that I was for Bernie - He said but he is a Socialist -

[LiberalArkie]

I said "OH hell yea".. My grandfather was a Socialist. A union master carpenter, who got his arm broke in the Bonus Army at Washington, DC. OH HELL YEA... If we can do and act like my granddad and his fellow troops did back then, we as a nation will survive.

[Cheese Sandwich]

1. If we really do get Bernie elected President, it might be the biggest election since 1932.

[PatrickforO]

2. We're always great ones for labels, aren't we?

And that 'socialist' moniker -why, if someone says, 'Well, he's a (gasp) Socialist! (shudder)" we're supposed to automatically react negatively, because well, socialism!

The thing is, socialist policies respect the collective need instead of elevating individual wants like our current capitalist utopia. My grandfather was a socialist as well.

[corkhead]

3. Ask him if he drives on public roads, goes to a state park or drinks municipal water.

If he does he is a Socialist too

[salimbag]

4. We are all socialists

Public roads, public schools, fire dept., police dept., these are all socialist programs. Say it loud, say it proud!

[JDPriestly]

6. The railroads which opened up the West were built thanks to use of public

lands. As were the canals that helped develop the Eastern states.

Checkerboarding refers to a situation where land ownership is intermingled between two or more owners, resulting in a checkerboard pattern. Checkerboarding is prevalent in the Western United States due to its extensive use in railroad grants for western expansion, although it had its beginnings in the canal land grant era.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboarding_%28land%29

Without the assistance of the U.S. government, railroad construction between 1860 and 1900 would have been greatly curtailed. Building a railroad was an expensive venture. Private banks, fearing the railroad companies would need a long time to pay off their debts, were reluctant to loan money to the companies. To remedy the situation, Congress provided assistance to the railroad companies in the form of land grants. The land grant railroads, receiving millions of acres of public land, sold the land to make money, built their railroads, and contributed to a more rapid settlement of the West. In the end, four out of the five transcontinental railroads were built with help from the federal government.

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/railroad/grants.html

Canal Lands were tracts of land donated by the federal government to several Great Lakes states in the 19th century to encourage internal improvements and aid in funding the construction of Canals. These states sold the land tracts to private parties to raise funds for canal construction.

Checkerboarding was used as a compromise method between opponents and proponents of such federal subsidies, and this subsidy system continued with land grants to railroads between 1851 and 1870.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_Lands

If you want to call it socialism, you can. But it is basic to the development of our country. Private capital can only do so much. Government subsidies made a lot of Americans very wealthy. That fact has been suppressed by certain political factions that want us to forget it.

[Enthusiast]

9. Plus one an entire shit load.

[JDPriestly]

10. My ancestors were able to buy land for reasonable prices.

The land was not owned by oligarchs. It was opened up for homesteading in some areas and in others settlers were invited to take out patent deeds on land for low prices provided that they developed the land. That's how America was built.

The Midwest especially was not developed by plantation owners and slave labor. It was built by hard working people who struggled, maybe even indentured themselves to someone already here in order to get to America and then worked even harder to make a farm out of land that had never been farmed. The soil was rich, but the labor involved in living from it was rough. It was hard.

But the land was plentiful and cheap. Our increasingly democratic government made this country possible. It was always a matter of individual work and ingenuity combined with government subsidies and assistance and people working together.

The libertarian view of how America should work is not based on our history. I know about this because I know about the history of my family. Neighbors helped each other. And the government helped people get started. The railroads are just one very powerful example.

[Enthusiast]

11. You are so right.

The libertarian view is entirely fictitious. Millions of dollars are spent in pumping up the libertarian nonsense. Of course you know this.

The righties use this libertarian misunderstanding to their advantage.

[appalachiablue]

7. +10

The US Military, US Postal Service too-

[L0oniX]

5. Watch this video of Bernie's response to that smear here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12802226

[Enthusiast]

12. +1

[appalachiablue]

8. Great OP, good for your grandfather & the Bonus Army. Attitude much is better now!