Bernie Sanders and Republicans have a very different understanding of what 'freedom' means

[Uncle Joe]

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Lost in some of the coverage of these policies, however, is the fundamental question of why they are so necessary. The United States, once the beacon of freedom and opportunity for oppressed peoples around the world, no longer stands up to its reputation. Housing costs have soared, wages have stagnated, and structures designed to lift up those at the bottom have been systematically decimated. America is no longer the land of opportunity where, as the Constitution says, all are created equal.

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Money has always provided an advantage, but now, more than ever, social mobility is dependent on existing advantage, further privileging the rich and disadvantaging the poor. The United States has fallen near the bottom of social mobility rankings, while the Nordic countries that Sanders cited frequently during his previous run are at the top. It may be blasphemous in some political circles to say, but many of the freedoms cherished in America are better realized in other developed countries, which is why Sanders, the progressive left wing of the Democratic Party and a growing number of Americans are convinced it’s time for change.

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Anu Partanen, the Finnish-American author of “The Nordic Theory of Everything,” writes that for a country so rhetorically committed to the concept of freedom, people in the United States are actually very dependent. For example, the elderly often depend on the support of their children, young adults often still need to depend on their parents, and many people depend on their employers for health insurance. This is in contrast to Nordic societies, which Partanen explains have governments that work to “free the individual from all forms of dependency within the family and in civil society.”

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Sanders’ campaign recognizes this, and it’s why many of his proposed programs are universal. For example, his education proposals have been criticized by Democratic opponents like Sen. Amy Klobuchar because some children of rich families would also benefit, but ensuring both rich and poor students are included has the potential to increase broad support and create greater resistance to their sabotage by politicians who are ideologically opposed to government services. As Lakey writes, “programs for the poor are poor programs.”

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https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/bernie-sanders-republicans-have-very-different-understanding-what-freedom-means-ncna1037321