As Bernie gains momentum, it will be important for us to explain democratic socialism properly
This past Tuesday night, Bernie Sanders made it perfectly clear, to those who’ve never heard of him, that he is a democratic socialist. Needless to say, almost immediately, the American right wing and even some on the left, lost their collective minds.
It was bound to come out, but I wondered if it was wise of Sanders to just go on and full out say the “S-word.” When you think about it for a minute, his vision for America is closer to what the majority of the people actually want for this country; they just don’t know what it’s called yet.
When people talk about the reforms they want to see happen in Washington DC, they talk about a stronger middle class, a decrease in the corruption that comes from money in politics, racial and gender equality alongside LGBT rights and at the same time, less government intervention in our personal lives.
If I told you that you were much more likely to find those views on the Bernie Sanders’ ticket, and virtually none of them on the Trump or Carson platforms, you might not believe me. If that were the case, I’d ask you to take a deeper look into Democratic Socialism before you give your allegiance over once again to the corrupt machine destroying our country from within.
Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically – to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few. The Republicans love to talk about the Founding Fathers and pretend that their policies harken back to the days when our country first started. The problem with that argument is, when you look at the way things are today with few people having a stake in so much and profiting from terrible exploitation of everyone else, that’s exactly what it was like back then. The only difference between then and now is the fat few were the English, and we wanted them out.
When you take a closer look at Bernie Sanders and democratic socialists in general, what you actually find is a movement centered in people taking care of people. We were all taught in school that the United States system of government is a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”
With a strong push to decrease the power of corporate money in politics, the democratic socialists intend to redirect the interests of politics to the people, not corporations or plutocrats. When people feel they actually make a difference in society, they’re much more likely to vote and participate, rather than feel helpless on the sidelines.
Empowering ordinary people in the workplace and the economy is a serious issue you simply will not hear discussed at a Republican debate. It might be brought up, but no one is going to have an answer that makes sense for the middle and lower classes. Starting from the top and working downward is all the Republicans have been doing since the 1980s. They have no new vision, and they’re not going to find one anytime soon.
The reason they won’t find a new vision is that they are not actually committed to all people being created equal. They tout “working hard” as being the key to success, that everyone has opportunity in America. But the fact is American society is far from the opportunity factory the Republicans make it out to be.
They say it’s a fair playing field, but how can you call a society where the minimum wage cannot support you and your family fair? How can you call our society equal when, in order to educate yourself to improve your station, you have to acquire crippling debt?
The right wing in this country will go into their classic fear-mongering mode in order to scare the masses away from Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism. It threatens to undo what Republicans have been building since Reagan first started to dismantle the New Deal.
Do not be deceived, democratic socialism and its ideals are far more democratic and inclusive than our plutocrats and our current system. Do yourself and the country a favor before the election cycle rounds the bend into election madness, research democratic socialism and look into Bernie Sanders’ platform.
I know that many will simply dismiss the idea and equate socialism with communism or perhaps Satan, but whether you’re a centrist or even a left leaning Democrat, please do your homework before you do so. You’ll be less a fool for it.
We have to admit that regardless of how good Sanders’ ideas are, it will take intelligence to understand that “socialism” is only a concept, and perhaps Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in fact a huge Democratic Socialist although prudently didn’t use that phrase. It’s simply by the people for the people as Mark says. We are a social species after all, and government was formed in this country to be exactly that by a handful of very forward thinking men who were in the right place at the right time.
That Republicans like to name drop the “founding fathers” when many of them probably can’t even name one is damn near heresy. The GOP and its felllow brother in brainwashing Christianity has never been about anything but the best for the best, i.e., rich bastards and clergy who could control the minds of millions of gullible morons. Alexander Hamilton is ballyhooed as a founding father but was our first real greedy proto-conservative, who favored a monarchy, argued that only rich landowners should be allowed to vote and that the simple farmer type would just have to depend on the rich SOB to do their thinking for them.
Sound familiar? If we haven’t succumbed to religious theocracy it’s because of the efforts of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island who saw the Puritan takeover of Boston as tyrannical and anything but free, those people refusing to acknowledge the irony of why they left England in the first place, to worship freely. Of course, once out of Henry VIII’s grip they did the same damn thing. Williams saw it was wrong, and that religious liberty meant exactly what James Madison would further promote: the right to worship OR NOT without fear of prosecution or persecution, and that religion would not be part of government. Funny how the GOP and Christians want to force theocracy on everybody through public schools, media and eventually the U.S. and state governments. Texas has basically caved in already, and were it not for the overriding Constitution, it may have become a theocratic state as it’s implemented the idiotic mythology of Christianity into public schools. Why the Feds haven’t cracked down on this trampling of the 1st Amendment is a mystery.
Forget anybody on the right understanding Sanders. What is needed is to appeal to those with a measurable I.Q. and reassure that a democratic/socialist platform still prevents Communism, totally preserves all our Constitutional privileges, free and fair voting and does all it can to help working class people. It is a testament to astonishing stupidity that the bulk of GOP voters could benefit greatly but prefer instead to let insidious forces like FOX News, the Republican media machine and Christianity to throw their fear ridden hate filled lies out to be consumed like a starving dog who will eat whatever it’s thrown and not leave it in his mouth long enough to taste.
In our day and age of a myriad of alternative sources for real political study, the overwhelming proof of the falsehoods of Christianity and the internet/technological advances mankind has achieved, it’s disgusting that almost half the country still insists on being incredibly stupid.
Back to the 1950s in the Red Scare at least that’s what frumpy Trump wants us to believe. He is the greatest propaganda machine since the end of the Cold War. He alienates people by dividing them by name calling and innuendos to the defame his competition. He depends on the emotional state of weak minds and uneducated fools that includes the media who are profiteers of the Elite spewing in differences, divisive thought, and prejudicial emotional indignities rather than putting the consensus of their intellect into words that have relevance and content. They help perpetuate the lies of the influence peddlers we call lobbyist who are thieves coercing our sense of public decency, trust, and reality.
Alexis de Tocqueville was absolutely correct when he observed in 1835 that in order for a democracy to function it required a well educated and well informed citizenry. We have neither today. Public education has been under fire since Nixon and the news media has turned from a public service to a profit center.
No, no. That’s way too complex for the average American to get through. You need a quick and easy, witty sound bite, like this:
Democratic: By the People
Socialism: For the People