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2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Salon: "America has never recovered from Ronald Reagan. That’s why Bernie Sanders is so important." [View all]
Excerpt from the great Salon article "America has never recovered from Ronald Reagan. Thats why Bernie Sanders is so important":
On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave his long planned speech on Democratic Socialism, invoking great American leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and reminding everyone that some of the most popular social programs we have today Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid were all once labeled socialist and aggressively opposed by monied interests, who FDR called economic royalists.
Not only were social programs opposed and called socialism; so were any kind of laws or regulations that intervened with the free market for the betterment of society. Unemployment insurance, abolishing child labor, the 40-hour work week, collective bargaining, strong banking regulations, deposit insurance, and job programs that put millions of people to work were all described, in one way or another, as socialist, explained Sanders.
...
Bernie Sanders, FDR, MLK, and many other past and present Americans have a very different view of freedom, and believe that the freedom to starve or to be left untreated after being seriously injured is no freedom at all. As FDR said while listing his Second Bill of Rights, we have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. ...For Sanders and other Democratic Socialists (or Social Democrats), socialism is not so much about having the individual freedom to do what you wish without ever taking on a role (a major flaw in Marxs thought was his dismissal of identity and the fulfillment human beings find in roles, e.g. someone who writes or paints would like be known as a writer or a painter), but having the freedom to fully utilize your innate talents and pursue work that you love, without having to worry about medical care or being tens of thousands dollars in debt for a necessary education. It is the right for every single person who works hard, regardless of how skilled or unskilled the labor is, to have a livable wage. And of course, it is democracy, or as Sanders put it:Democratic socialism, to me, does not just mean that we must create a nation of economic and social justice. It also means that we must create a vibrant democracy based on the principle of one person one vote.
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Salon: "America has never recovered from Ronald Reagan. That’s why Bernie Sanders is so important." [View all]
Attorney in Texas
Nov 2015
OP
FDR only put Steigall after the crash: Hillary is plan is stronger than steigall
lewebley3
Nov 2015
#66
Her plan? Oh, right her "plan". Are you interested in some water front in the Everglades? nm
rhett o rick
Nov 2015
#69
Clinton has praised Reagan. She has supported his actions to cut Social Security. nm
rhett o rick
Nov 2015
#61
If Hillary were for the rich: She wouldn't be a Dem: Nor worked in public ser
lewebley3
Nov 2015
#67
Have patience, she's working on it! Think how much higher her speaking fees will be if she is nom!
peacebird
Nov 2015
#68
FDR was a" rich folk": Hillary is heir to Dem party: She is a smart politician
lewebley3
Nov 2015
#76
That's a joke. New Democrats like Hillary took the name "New Democrats" precisely to disassociate
merrily
Nov 2015
#74
Um, She and her husband help start the New Democrats. Lapse of time has nothing to do with it.
merrily
Nov 2015
#77
Sorry the Dem party didn't start with the Clintons: Its was the same party old Party
lewebley3
Nov 2015
#79
Quite so: it is no coincidence that those who espouse radical corporatism
Betty Karlson
Nov 2015
#57
I thought that Democrats, voters I mean, had realized this. I still think they do, but they
sabrina 1
Nov 2015
#4
Agree. We are incredibly fortunate to have an opportunity for a sea change in favor or
merrily
Nov 2015
#6
If they are WILLING to miss this opportunity, then they don't matter. Far more
sabrina 1
Nov 2015
#7
Most Americans have spoken for themselves That is why Bernie is doing so well, he
sabrina 1
Nov 2015
#60
Clueless. Republicans were against big government as soon as FDR got the Supreme Court
merrily
Nov 2015
#15
You sure love to put words into other people's mouths. It's how you convince yourself
pnwmom
Nov 2015
#25
This is what you said. It had nothing to do with my Reply 2, which never claimed Reagan
merrily
Nov 2015
#33
I don't care if he blew up the Capitol building. He's been out of office 27 years.
merrily
Nov 2015
#71
K&R - "Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid were all once labeled socialist and aggressively opposed
99th_Monkey
Nov 2015
#3
Well, he chose his battles, and did not want to fight that one. That's why we're
PatrickforO
Nov 2015
#8
When he took office, the nation was just about belly up. Then there was Hitler.
merrily
Nov 2015
#12
Reagan must have been bestest buds with Louis Powell (the bell ringer of the racist reich).
Dont call me Shirley
Nov 2015
#19
Head-to-head polling shows Rubio crushing Clinton. I prefer Sanders' chances in November.
Attorney in Texas
Nov 2015
#38
Sanders is polling higher than any FDR style-Democrat in my lifetime.
Attorney in Texas
Nov 2015
#40