Bernie Sanders and the Brazen Return of Socialism

[LiberalArkie]

A dozen years ago, John Edwards, then still the Democratic Party’s fair-haired boy, had a signature catchphrase on the stump to describe the Bush administration’s economic policy. He called it “the most radical and dangerous economic theory to hit our shores since socialism.” That was the nastiest comparison Edwards could come up with — to an extreme and long-dead ideology. The reference worked only because Edwards’s target audience of Democratic-primary voters could all agree socialism was as unworkable and monstrously evil as, well, the Bush economic program.

In a few days, when the three remaining Democratic candidates for president gather in South Carolina for a forum hosted by Rachel Maddow, none will be using “socialist” as a slur. One of them, of course, adopts it as a proud identifier. Bernie Sanders has not turned the Democratic Party socialist — nor even, technically speaking, joined it, choosing to remain nominally independent. But Sanders’s campaign has made socialism relevant to the national political debate for the first time since Eugene V. Debs garnered 6 percent of the vote in 1912. It is looking increasingly likely that the 2016 election will mark a historical turning point in the relationship of socialism to mainstream politics in the United States.

In most democracies, socialism does not connote something horrifying or alien. The United States is unusual among democracies in that it lacks a true mainstream political party with roots in the labor movement. American liberalism developed in the 20th century mostly out of policies implemented by the Democratic Party, which had its strongest base in the South, a deeply segregated, heavily agricultural region with a traditional suspicion of centralized power. The Democrats have never been a labor party; unions have always had to jostle with business for influence. The Cold War further served to identify socialism with communism. But this deep and very American hostility may be breaking down. Recent polls have shown that voters in their 20s think just as highly of socialism as they do of capitalism.

That socialism is no longer a dirty word has freaked out conservatives. As Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute worried in 2010, “The young sympathizers of socialism today may be the grown-up defenders of socialism tomorrow.” Rand Paul, who prides himself on his hipness, has warned young people to stay away. “I’ve been trying to point out — because I’m on a lot of college campuses, we have a big following in college campuses — that there’s nothing sexy and there’s nothing cool about socialism,” he told Glenn Beck. Oh, socialism might sound cool, and you might impress kids at a party, but eventually you will find yourself facedown in a ditch, or perhaps digging one in a Siberian labor camp. (I’m not kidding. “Only the state tells you what you can do; it’s the most anti-choice economic system,” Paul said. “If you don’t listen, they fine you. If you don’t pay the fine, they imprison you. If you will not listen, ultimately, what has happened in history, and people get mad when I say this, but they exterminate you. That’s what happened under Stalin.”)

Snip

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/10/bernie-sanders-return-of-socialism.html

[SoapBox]

1. Did I miss it...

That the author never said Democratic Socialism but just kept saying socialism?

I guess after I read, I learned the difference. Why can't these writers do the same?

[PatrickforO]

2. I suspect this is what we can expect throughout the campaign.

The establishment doesn't want Bernie in there, so 'socialism' is one of the ways they will try and poison his campaign. I wouldn't expect a mainstream publication to EVER make a distinction between social democracy and socialism.

[RobertEarl]

4. Bernie is a 'Mild' Socialist

A mild socialist is a socialist who is in favor of the good things government does for the People. Things like roads, hospitals, and safety departments.

Socialism, as practiced in the US, compared to fascism, which is corporate control, is the freedom ensuring MO the country has thrived on. All for one, and one for all, is the crux of socialism. Fascism is control of all for the profit of a few.

Wall Street is an example of fascism. NASA is an example of socialism.

Putting people in jail for a bag of weed is fascism. Having a hospital for the sick is socialism.

Fascism is a lie. It can only continue via deceit. Socialism continues because it helps people and contributes to the general welfare of the people.

The country's main problems stem from the fact that persons like Paul are in positions of power. What we need are people like Bernie at the head of state.

[phantom power]

3. Because they're all about Reporting The Controversy(tm)

and they aren't every going to let the boring facts get in the way of a juicy Controversy(tm).

In a way, you could say the last 40 years of politics are about how the GOP understood this, and worked it to their advantage, and the Dems never did.

[colsohlibgal]

5. We Have Had Socialism For Awhile

Our highways are socialist. Our libraries are as well, our police, etc.

People misunderstand the meaning of the term with a lot of help from right wing blowhard/hypocrites like Limbaugh, Hannity, and Bill-O.

The funniest is when right wing folks throw in the fascism card, too stupid to know that is a far right wing term.

[Enthusiast]

6. Jeez, Rand Paul is a complete dope.