Millions Now Understand That Capitalism Needs Socialism to Work - Which Is Why Bernie Is So Popular

[LiberalArkie]

Three short years ago, the idea of a major candidate in a presidential election openly describing himself as a socialist would have seemed unthinkable. President Barack Obama had entered his second term and the Democratic Party had won the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections not by running to the left, but by campaigning mostly from the center. In 2013, “socialism” was still a dirty word in American politics. But that was before Bernie Sanders ran for president and before polls showed the word socialist taking on an increasingly positive connotation among millennials in the United States. The word is still rejected by most strategists in the Democratic Party, but in 2016, it at least gets a seat at the table in the marketplace of ideas.

When Sanders officially entered the Democratic presidential primary in April 2015, his campaign was considered a longshot. Sanders, who had been serving in the U.S. Senate as an independent, proudly and openly described himself as a “socialist”—and conventional wisdom in the Democratic National Committee was that running for president as a centrist was essential unless one wanted to suffer a landslide defeat like George McGovern in 1972 or Walter Mondale in 1984. But Sanders has run a disciplined, aggressive campaign that, as of May 15, 2016, had won him 1,473 Democratic delegates and 40 superdelegates. Hillary Clinton, with 2,240 delegates and 524 superdelegates, remains the frontrunner and the likely nominee. But the fact that Sanders has made this much progress in a 21st-century Democratic presidential primary by describing himself as a democratic socialist and campaigning so aggressively on single-payer health care and free higher education is downright historic.

Context is important. When Sanders describes himself as a democratic socialist, he is referring to democratic socialism as practiced in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Norway and many other countries in Western Europe; in other words, capitalism with a safety net. Sanders is essentially a capitalist who rejects the type of crony capitalism and ruthless corporatism that is killing America’s middle class. By European standards, Sanders is a mainstream liberal, which is a far cry from orthodox Marxist-Leninism as practiced in the old Soviet Union. And compared to some of the left-wing parties that have been gaining momentum in parts of Europe (such as Podemos in Spain or Syreeza in Greece), Sanders is not that far to the left. Rather, the political discourse in the U.S. moved so far to the right in the 1980s and '90s that openly embracing socialism on any level was considered toxic.

In January 2016, YouGov posed the question: “do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of socialism?” The poll found that Americans under 30 had a view of socialism that included “very favorable” (8%), “somewhat favorable” (35%) or “somewhat unfavorable” (13%). In the 30-44 demographic—that is, the older millennials and younger Generation Xers—Americans had a view of socialism that included “very favorable” (7%), “somewhat favorable” (20%) or “somewhat unfavorable” (19%). And in the 45-64 demographic, a combination of Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers had an opinion of socialism that included “very favorable" (4%), “somewhat favorable” (23%) or “somewhat unfavorable” (18%).

Snip

http://www.alternet.org/economy/millions-now-understand-capitalism-needs-socialism-work-which-why-bernie-so-popular

[cantbeserious]

1. Bernie Is The Only Antidote For The Corrupt Nation Once Known As America

eom

[Babel_17]

2. That's a thoughtdul and interesting take on things

Thanks for posting it.

[sorechasm]

3. Keeps 'em honest.

Apparently, capitalism needs at least as many checks and balances as does the triumvarant branches of the federal government to remain transparent and above board. Obviously, politicians are too easlly bought off. The press, 'the fourth branch' of the government is more easily bought off than the politicians.

Therefore, a strong, politically active middle class is required to keep capitalism from morphing into plutocracy. Such a middle class needs a sufficient safety net to allow it the security and the time to get involved in their communities and the election process.