Here’s Bernie Sanders Response When ‘Meet the Press’ Host Asks If He’s a Capitalist

[eridani]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/10/11/heres-bernie-sanders-response-when-meet-the-press-host-asks-if-hes-a-capitalist/

“Yeah. Are you a capitalist?” Todd retorted.

“No,” Sanders said. “I’m a Democratic socialist. But what I mean is I’ve been elected as an independent throughout my political career. I’m running now in the Democratic nomination process.”

Sanders contended that he would support the Democratic presidential nominee even if that was not him.

Sanders also differentiated himself from President Barack Obama during his interview when he said he would be able to make progress with a GOP-controlled Congress unlike Obama as his policies, if elected, will bring hoardes of “young people” demonstrating outside of the U.S. Capitol. Sanders also said Obama is a very “decent guy” who thought he could “sit down with the Republican leadership and work out some fair compromises.”

“The truth is, number one, they never had any intention to compromise,” he said. “But number two, more importantly, you have to be prepared to mobilize people, to take on these big money interests.”

[cantbeserious]

1. Capitalism Is An Economic Disease That Needs Careful Monitoring And Regular Treatment

Otherwise the Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks end up with all the money and the rest of us none.

[Scuba]

2. "... you have to be prepared to mobilize people ..."

Bernie is unlike any other politician, certainly unlike Obama. In my 67 years I've never seen a pol mobilize people like Bernie is doing.

[daleanime]

3. Up-Chuck says that he's asked guest if they are 'capitalist'.....

has anyone ever seen him do so?

[F4lconF16]

4. Yeah...and this is where I really have a hard time with Sanders.

Regardless of the label he has chosen, his rhetoric and his record shows that he is NOT a Democratic Socialist. He is, to the contrary, a social democrat.

Unlike genuine socialist movements we see (Podemos would be a decent example), Sanders advocates for things we can do within our current system, modeling it after places like Scandinavia. His ideas generally reflect what is called a mixed economy, a form of heavily regulated capitalism that gives some amount of control to the workers. He does not advocate changes to the nature of the state, either.

This article from dailykos, while getting almost everything wrong, at least manages to kind of articulate the differences in part of the article:

There are essentially two types of socialists in modern Western democratic politics. Social democrats are effectively what the left is in nearly every Western European and North American country. They might find socialism laudable, but have made peace with enacting changes to capitalism to make it more equitable. Social democrats enacted policies typically referred to as the mixed economy or welfare state, such as Social Security and universal health care. While U.S. Democrats don't use these labels, social democrats generally define the center-left of the political spectrum in the West.

Democratic socialists on the other hand are typically seen as more radical left-wingers and advocate the outright replacement of capitalism with socialism. European parties such as Greece's Syriza or Spain's Podemos aim to drastically reduce inequality through radical changes in policy. Democratic socialists would have government inject itself into the financial system and take control of natural resources to help the broader populace before private profit.

Despite his chosen label of democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders is very much a social democrat. He repeatedly will tell you how much he admires Scandinavia. That region is the modern poster child for social democracy and its countries are the most progressive, happiest, and equal in the entire world. Sanders is not proposing radical policies, but simply what many Europeans have realized is common sense. Even in America, many of his proposals enjoy broad support, just not among elected officials.

Now, to be honest, I think most of that article is crap. But those paragraphs are close enough to give a good idea of what I mean. I disagree with the idea that social democrats are socialists--welfare-state "socialism" has little to do with the full nationalization of the means of production. Robert Reich has done a few good pieces on the difference.

When Sanders says things like this, he starts to lose me. I'm fine with voting for him as long as we and he recognize what we're voting for: welfare capitalism. We can argue about whether or not it will work, but don't try to tell me you're proposing a fundamentally different society. Especially when I'm one of the ones who actually is.

Edit: whoops, Sanders group. Hopefully we can just talk about this? I know I'm criticizing him, but please recognize this is valid criticism from his left about his rhetoric, from someone who is currently supporting him.

Edit 2: a better article:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121680/bernie-sanders-democratic-socialist-not-just-socialist