NEWSFLASH!: To anyone under 40, the word "socialist" means nothing bad...

[hoosierlib]

So my message to the Democratic Party as a whole it STOP running away from it and own it. Take it back from the right-wingers and define it means for 21st century Americans. Only Baby Boomers believe it is a bad word and that was because they were brainwashed in grade school in order to fight the "Red Threat".

In summary, grow a pair and fight...

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Ask people over 62 what they think of FDR and his Socialist program SSI ?

[LiberalElite]

2. I'm 65 and I

regularly tell online right wing commenters that this isn't 1956 it's 2016 and that younger voters are immune to the Red scare propaganda. So am I, for that matter.

[DirkGently]

3. Plenty of older folks appreciate Democratic social programs too. n/t

[wilsonbooks]

17. Damn straight. This 63 year old life long Democrat is

proud to be called a Socialist.

[brer cat]

4. NEWSFLASH!!

Baby boomers learned the difference between socialism and communism in grade school. Did you skip those grades?

p.s. "grow a pair" is sexist.

[thereismore]

10. A pair of what is sexist. nt

[hoosierlib]

15. Would you prefer...

Cowboy the fuck up?

[hoosierlib]

22. Really?

Funny because all of the fidiots I see on TV and who I talk to in the real world that have a problem with the "S" word are all baby boomers (or their cloned offspring that when challenged can't define what it even means).

And my apologies for the use of balls...does "cowboy the fuck up" work better?

[brer cat]

23. Your vocabulary is middle school level.

Grow up and maybe you will be able to contribute something meaningful to the conversation here.

[hoosierlib]

24. Lol...

Nice comback (an insult)...sure you are not a Republican?

[Hoyt]

5. Well, except Young Republicans. I'm a lot older than that, and any Democratic candidate and a lot

of Republicans embrace a lot of socialist ideals. Some just don't like to say it out loud. Now, some still fighting the cold war or Vietnam, aren't as accepting.

[bvar22]

6. Many Boomers know the difference between Socialism and Communism.

Our early years were spent with stuff like this:

FDR Economic Bill of Rights

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be[font size=3] established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

[font size=3]America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.[/font]

Please note that the above are stipulated as Basic Human RIGHTS to be protected by our government,
and NOT as COMMODITIES to be SOLD to Americans by For Profit Corporations.

Bernie doesn't appear so "radical" to people who remember the promises of the New Deal and LBJ's Great Society. In fact, Bernie is mild by comparison.

The country did NOT "move to the Right" as many members here claim. The Democratic Party Leadership moved to the Right of Nixon in response to Reagan instead of fighting his conservative ideology.

--bvar22
a mainstream-Center FDR Democrat.

[Stargleamer]

7. i'm just not sure of that

I think the extreme right in this country have been so successful in equating socialist with Stalinism, that they're bound to hear a biased message of what socialism means when they ask their elders or others.

OTOH, it seems that more and more young people are no longer shying away from the word "feminist", and that does my heart good.

[diane in sf]

8. I'm a boomer and the red scare stuff was always hogwash to me, bring on the socialism!

I'm old enough to remember the 50s and 60s when the middle class had a good life and the 70s when suddenly there were no jobs and the 80s when what started in the 70s accelerated and we headed toward banana republichood.

[orpupilofnature57]

9. An Accurate Analysis !!!!!

[SheilaT]

11. Yep. The Berlin Wall fell in October, 1989.

Soviet Communism collapsed a year or so later. That's a quarter century ago. So most people under 40 would have few memories of Soviet Communism, or of Ronald Reagan and his Evil Empire nonsense.

I'm 67 myself, and I can recall quite well when my generation was entering the voting booth, and how things that mattered so very much to our parents meant nothing to us. There is always a younger generation, and the old folks need to understand that.

[muntrv]

12. On the other hand, unregulated capitalism led to the Wall Street

meltdown of 2008.

[Binkie The Clown]

13. I'm 70 and Socialist has never been the boogie man to me. n/t

[hay rick]

14. Socialist or Democratic Socialist?

There's a big difference. Bernie always refers to himself as a democratic socialist which the media usually shortens to socialist to "accidentally" sow confusion on behalf of their employers. Chris Cuomo's first question to Hillary was if she was concerned about her narrowing lead over a "self-described socialist." Socialism usually implies state owned enterprises, democratic socialism does not. Bernie is trying to save capitalism by reforming it. The media distorts his message through a consistent pattern of omissions and misrepresentations.

[hfojvt]

16. one person's opinion, backed only by speculation

Here are some polls. https://today.yougov.com/news/2015/05/11/one-third-millennials-like-socialism/

Capitalism favored over socialism 39-36 for those under 25
50-26 for those 30-44
and then 59-24 and 59-15 for the older groups.

this poll does not sound encouraging

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/poll-voters-socialist-atheist-catholic-119273

47% of Americans would vote for a socialist if their party nominated one.

You know how bad that is? Obama got 92% of the Democrat vote in 2012, and got in the mid 40s of independent votes. With 47% of the party vote, our candidate would be massacred. Presumably would pick up even less of the independent vote too.

Oh, and those polls - they are taken BEFORE the Republican Noise Machine whips into overdrive blasting their anti-socialist, anti-tax message.

I am sorta reminded of what JD Salinger had a teacher say in his famous book. Something like "Young people want to DIE nobly for a cause, while an older person wants to LIVE humbly for it."

You may be eager to take off like Don Quixote tilting at a buzz saw, but since I think with my BRAIN instead of my pair, I will take a pass on that.

[Gabi Hayes]

18. RNCC using this for fundraising:

saw a retweet of this on MSNBC tonight.

check the link on which I found the screenshot:
http://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-hammer-sickle-nrcc-2016-1

in which they quote McCaskill's misgivings, but don't mention that she and Bernie vote together 74+ percent of the time. so she's 3/4 socialist herself! surprised that's not getting any play?

[flamingdem]

21. It will be nuts with that kind of symbology and other tactics if Bernie gets the Nom

And it's good the younger generation is not as easy to manipulate.

[Gabi Hayes]

19. seen the top 10 donors for H and B? lots of commie unions for guess who...

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/07/facebook-posts/meme-says-hillary-clintons-top-donors-are-banks-an/

I wonder how many of those unions have endorsed Bernie. I know the NEA went for Hillary, to my disgust, as I'm a paid member.

[flamingdem]

20. But those under 40 also know about Cuba and how there's a fine line

between professed "socialism" and those who would be members of the Communist Party. They have both.

It seems like Democratic Socialism is a better term, the one Bernie used.