Bernie Sanders: Don’t Need 23 Choices of Deodorant,18 Choices of Sneakers When Kids Are Going Hungry

[Jefferson23]

May 26, 2015

LOL, you have to laugh.

The Socialist running for president says he doesn't begrudge Hillary Clinton for the money she makes giving speeches.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is running for the Democratic nomination for president, represents everything wrong with the populist redistributist left. Channeling his inner Hugo Chavez in an interview with CNBC, Sanders bemoaned the choice of deodorant and sneakers in this country, because children are starving. Via CNBC:



You can't just continue growth for the sake of growth in a world in which we are struggling with climate change and all kinds of environmental problems. All right? You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country. I don't think the media appreciates the kind of stress that ordinary Americans are working on.

Sanders, of course, is mistaken on the fundamentals. Economic growth is not a goal for the sake of itself—economic growth ignited by the freeing of markets has lifted more people out of poverty in the last century than any other force in history. Choices in the market contribute that improvement of the human condition—not just because 23 choices of deodorant mean more jobs than one choice of deodorant but because in a very real sense more choices mean more wealth. Bernie Sanders and those attracted to his economically illiterate, anti-capitalist rhetoric live in a world where working conditions haven't changed since the 19th century, where the United States is perpetually one tax or spending cut away from collapsing into Mad Max style chaos.

Sanders peddles in the brand of populism where the wealthy are openly villainized, but he's careful not to say he begrudges Hillary Clinton for pulling in six figures a speech (for her insight, of course, not her political connections). He may be hedging his comments because he sees Clinton as vastly better than any Republican alternative, or he may be hedging his comments because he career hopes are for a similar speaking circuit. Here's the relevant exchange from CNBC:

in full: https://reason.com/blog/2015/05/26/bernie-sanders-dont-need-23-choices-of-d

[bluestateguy]

1. And he and the government are qualified to decide how many choices we get?

???

[Jefferson23]

2. You're free to join the Free Market agenda, that is who wrote this and feels he is wrong.

I found it hilarious they're trying to take him down with bullshit policies that have hurt
Americans for too many years..that is why I posted it.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. Good one !! , they're pathetic lately . n/t

[Jefferson23]

5. The OP cracked me up, I had to post it. n/t

[marshall]

25. Presumably government would control production, not consumer choice

the less producers of less popular products could be redirected to producing needed food and other necessities.

China does this, and that is why their economy is booming.

[orpupilofnature57]

3. 1% sycophant just keeping the streets safe . n/t

[angstlessk]

6. I watched movies from the 30's...in a grocer there were 10 choices of cereal

not 100...my first thought was "how simple life was" WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WANTS TO SLOG THROUGH ALL THE CHOICES IN A GROCERY STORE?

[Recursion]

7. The same people who like living in a cul-de-sac with no sidewalks

It's not me, but it's a lot of voters

[Recursion]

8. Oy... that's a quote that his campaign may find hard to survive

Ouch.

If you don't see how bad that sounds to a suburban soccer mom, that's also a problem.

[joshcryer]

9. I remember reading about someone coming to America for the first time.

They went into a Wal-Mart and saw entire isles devoted to cereal or soft drinks (not all drinks, sodas, etc; there was another isle dedicated to juices and water).

It blew their mind.

I don't think this is a campaign issue though. This is easily segued into small businesses. Small businesses can't afford to have dozens of variants of some product on their store shelves. They chose the best product that their customers have come to expect. You can also segue it into talking about making products in America and buying America.

It's the mega-corporate world where this is remotely an issue. Wal-Mart can afford to have three different brands of soda on their shelves and about two dozen variants of flavors. A mom-and-pop is going to have the most popular stuff.

This is what Sanders needs to channel:

[Recursion]

10. It's famous in the foreign service to have a quick meltdown in WalMart

every time you come back home. "Reverse culture shock". Happened for me at a Harris Teeter, of all places: I'd really forgotten how much nearly-identical crap we stock and sell, or how big the aisles and shelves are.

[jmowreader]

32. I don't like the incompleteness of that chart

They left off ConAgra and Heinz.

[Jefferson23]

15. I don't think he'll have too much trouble laying out the problems associated with the

free market agenda.

[joshcryer]

11. "freeing of markets has lifted more people out of poverty"

The free market has created literal slave states.

[Recursion]

12. OTOH global inequality has gone way, way down since the 80s

Basically, everyone in the world except for the middle class in the richest countries is better off than they were 30 years ago.

[joshcryer]

13. No question.

But at great cost and pain and mistrust by our neighbors.

[Jefferson23]

14. I know, I cracked up too when I read the OP. n/t

[yellowcanine]

16. Not sure this is a good line to pursue. People are not going to see the connection.

In fact, anyone who has been to a developing country where there is ONE choice of deodorant and ONE or NO choices of sneakers but still plenty of hungry and malnourished children are going to say WTF? It is at best a flimsy connection, imo. And unfortunately he plays right into the red baiting of the reactionary wing nuts - if there is any place where there were few consumer choices it was the Soviet Union. Empty store shelves are not a sign of a healthy economy. And yes, consumer product diversity is a by product of free market economics but it is not at all clear that such free market economics means hungry children. In fact consumer choices means there will be cost competition, meaning that parents have some hope of having enough money left over for food after buying other necessities.

Bernie's heart is in the right place but he doesn't appear to have the grasp of economics of say, Elizabeth Warren. Not that Hillary does either but she will not be likely to make this kind of mistake.

[Jefferson23]

17. His record is solid because his understanding is solid as well. The OP is posted for humor, by

me..free market nonsense is what the author is selling despite the tragic consequences
it has reaped. Campaigning also involves educating people and confronting harmful
policies.

Bernie Sanders on Free Trade
Click here for 11 full quotes on Free Trade OR background on Free Trade.

Voted NO on promoting free trade with Peru. (Dec 2007)
Voted NO on implementing CAFTA, Central America Free Trade. (Jul 2005)
Voted NO on implementing US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. (Jul 2004)
Voted NO on implementing US-Singapore free trade agreement. (Jul 2003)
Voted NO on implementing free trade agreement with Chile. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on withdrawing from the WTO. (Jun 2000)
Voted NO on 'Fast Track' authority for trade agreements. (Sep 1998)
Rated 33% by CATO, indicating a mixed record on trade issues. (Dec 2002)
Extend trade restrictions on Burma to promote democracy. (Jun 2007)
Review free trade agreements biennially for rights violation. (Jun 2009)
No MFN for China; condition trade on human rights. (Nov 1999)

http://www.ontheissues.org/house/Bernie_Sanders.htm

[yellowcanine]

18. Equating product diversity with hungry children is not having a solid understanding.

Sorry, but I have been in developing countries where there is hardly anything on store shelves side by side with hungry children. It is a gross misunderstanding of macroeconomics to say such a thing. It also does not flow that trade agreements = product diversity, so I don't know how we logically get to where Bernie is with that remark.

On edit: Another example. I came back from Kenya after 3 years in 1976. I was shocked at the diversity of products in stores. This was BEFORE the Walmart explosion and the China product invasion and most of the products were made in the good old USA, so it had little to do with trade agreements. It was the difference between a large consumer economy and a small one. Nothing else.

[Jefferson23]

19. Why do believe he is not able to explain himself? Do you believe his record indicates he has

a simplistic economic viewpoint and that the OP quote from Bernie encapsulates his
understanding to be so narrow as you suggest? The author of the OP is a free market
lover, btw.

[yellowcanine]

20. The statement indicates a simplistic economic viewpoint. I don't really care what the author is or

thinks. That is my assessment based on my own experience being in other countries where there are lots of hungry children.

[Jefferson23]

21. I believe his record demonstrates the opposite. n/t

[yellowcanine]

22. Well he is not going to convince many people saying stuff like that.

Ability to communicate in understandable ways is a big part of running for President. Ask Bill Clinton.

[Jefferson23]

23. He'll do just fine and the OP was posted to mock the author, but whatever. n/t

[Reter]

24. I know quite a few on the far left who have a problem with deodorant

Not sure what their beef with it is, but my nose hates them.

[djean111]

26. Awwwwww - hippie-punching on a beautiful Sunday morning.....and adding sooooo

much to the conversation, too!
IMO, it is not those on the far Left who stink.

[frylock]

33. I'm sure you do..

I'm sure you do.

[valerief]

27. I can hear Fox now. "Commie Sanders wants to take away your deodorant and sneakers!"

[bulloney]

29. If and when it reaches that point, you know he's hit a nerve with the Faux simpletons.

[Jefferson23]

30. No doubt, and I am thrilled he is ready to counter their bullshit, forcefully so. n/t

[BeyondGeography]

28. A snarky road-to-nowhere riff

I hope no one asks Bernie to elaborate on this, because it's nonsensical. Stick to income distribution and pay. Americans don't want less capitalism, they want better capitalism.

[uncle ray]

31. underarm spray deodorant?

i thought everybody used stick deodorant now.

[FrodosPet]

34. One Deodorant

One Deodorant to rule them all, One Deodorant to find them,
One Deodorant to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

Monopolies suck, whether they are capitalist or socialist. I LIKE being able to find which deodorant smells best and does the best job for me.

I realize deodorant is not always a priority in everyone's life, but it makes life nicer for the other people in the car.