The truth about Bernie Sanders and “Socialism”

[TBF]

Of course ... a centrally planned, command economy is not advocated by Sanders, and his policies have nothing to do with 20th century communism. Neither does he want to abolish private property, as most GOP candidates will begin spewing eventually. “Democratic Socialism means democracy,” said Sanders on Sunday, “It means creating a government that represents all of us, not just the wealthiest people in this country.”

The truth about Bernie Sanders’ “socialism”: Everything you need to know about the candidate’s mould-breaking political philosophy
Sanders has taken the Democratic primary by storm, a feat that would have been unprecedented until very recently
Conor Lynch ~ Wednesday, Oct 21, 2015 01:58 PM CST

... After nearly a century of red-baiting and anti-socialist propaganda ... today is a much better time to run as a socialist than in the past, and Sanders could be just the man to open up our political playing field to future socialists — or Democratic Socialists, to be more accurate — if he can finally remove the stigma from the word. Of course, communism fell a quarter-century ago, and for many millennials who grew up in a post-Cold War period, the word socialism actually evokes a more positive response than capitalism, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center. This is certainly a good sign for the future of socialist politics; however, the majority of Americans today are not millennials, and there is great deal of ignorance when it comes to these words, which tend to elicit a whirlwind of emotions.

There seem to be two common, yet very different, thoughts that come to the minds of many Americans when they hear the word socialism. For some, it automatically means 20th century communism, i.e. a Stalinist or Maoist dictatorship where the state controls all ways of life and plans the entire economy while enslaving all dissenters. On the other hand, it is thought of as a massive bureaucratized welfare state, where citizens are lazy and rely on the government for “free stuff.” In America, this view has always had a racial undertone, with a narrative that it is African Americans or Hispanic immigrants who are getting the free stuff off of the hard work of white people. Today, this dog-whistle strategy is alive and well, as we see in one of Donald Trump’s recent tweets: “Notice that illegal immigrants will be given ObamaCare and free college tuition but nothing has been mentioned about our VETERANS.”

Now, it is important for Sanders to explain to the people what he is and what he is not. Sanders calls himself a Democratic Socialist, and does not argue when reporters leave out the first word, as they tend to. But in reality, Sanders is less a Democratic Socialist and more a “Social Democrat.” The Scandinavian countries that Sanders rightfully praises, such as Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, are Social Democracies. These countries have strong welfare states (another term that has been demonized through dog-whistle politics), which means universal healthcare, free college tuition, a well regulated market, etc. These countries are still very much capitalist societies, just with rules that create a more even playing field. Democratic Socialism, on other hand, is the belief that both the political and economic spheres should be run democratically. It is important to note that Democratic Socialism does not want to replace corporate ownership with state ownership, and is critical of state bureaucracy as well as corporate bureaucracy ...

Much more here: http://www.salon.com/2015/10/21/the_truth_about_bernie_sanders_socialism_everything_you_need_to_know_about_the_candidates_mould_breaking_political_philosophy/

[99th_Monkey]

1. FDR was a "socialist", but he dared not say the "S-word"

I wish Bernie would focus more on this^ than Denmark; but then, also I trust
Team Bernie knows what they are doing.

Honestly though, I think Bernie would get a lot more traction focusing on FDR than Denmark;
pointing out how "the Party of FDR" has devolved in the last 30 years to become "the party of
3rd Way Oligarchs & Wall St."

[n8dogg83]

2. I suspect Bernie is planning to do just that in his upcoming speech....

on what being a Democratic Socialist means to him. There are literally hundreds of examples of democratic socialism right here in the U.S., including policies of FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, even Nixon (who established the Environmental Protection Agency).

[99th_Monkey]

3. Let's hope. btw, what upcoming speech? is their a major speech scheduled, in the works? nt

[n8dogg83]

4. It was annouced a couple of weeks ago. See the link below. There was an OP about it.

I also saw it on a couple of other news sources. I am not sure when it is but it's sometime next month.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/128064153

[99th_Monkey]

5. Cool. Thanks!