Does Bernie Sanders understand what Democratic Socialism is?

Oh geez, get a grip people. The argument is moot as long as people continue to fail to recognize that
socialism is alive and well in America...for the rich.

We have:

Socialized govt,-run, single-payer bank insurance. (FDIC)

Socialized govt. single-payer insurance for crops. (FCIC)

Private [sic] pension insurance. (PBGC)

Overseas Private [sic] investor's insurance (OPIC)

S & L failures and bailout by the taxpayers. Wall street fraud and failures and bailout, TARP

Heads they win...tails, you lose. Now that's socialism the capitalist loves...his kind of socialism.

Also:

Milk price supports because we want 3 times as much dairy products as we could consume and thus ensures its own continuance.

American exceptionalism has created the richest socialists in history...see wall street.

Corporations make taxpayers compete with socialism to get their employees...more serfs to tax for the next corp. welfare.

American exceptionalism is being so 'rich' we die 4-5 years younger.

.....have 800,000 medical bankruptcies a year.

We see here the success of capitalist propaganda and to the point of getting socialism for them...capitalism for the poor.

Mithrae said:

I can't really answer that. Australians don't get public health insurance per se; I suppose our Medicare could be viewed that way insofar as visits to GPs who accept bulk billing, but we've got public hospitals and suchlike, alongside private options. A recent post by Checkerboard Strangler was the first time I'd really considered the logistics of why America might be more or less locked into the insurance/private provider model.

Click to expand...

I didn't find that post at all convincing, nevermind that if necessity is indeed the mother of invention as Checkerboard argues, having by far the most inefficient healthcare system in the developed world with comparative run away cost inflation (and poor coverage) is surely a form of necessity.

SonOfDaedalus said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism

But when Bernie talks about "Democratic Socialism" he describes a Social Democracy NOT Democratic Socialism.

He does say "What Democratic Socialism means to me" but then he goes ahead and defines ordinary democrat principles that have been around since FDR. And the other countries around the world he describes are Social Democracies.

So is it that Bernie doesn't understand Democratic Socialism or is he being incredibly dishonest about what this means? In Democratic Socialism there is NO CAPITALISM. The government controls EVERYTHING not just health care.

Click to expand...

Sander's really has pissed me off with his loose use of the term, which the right will use to bury him should he ever be the nominee.

Socialism is where the state owns all the means of production and distribution.

When Bernie says what it is, he points to the netherlands, all of which are free market economies ( believe it or not ), so he is not talking
about classic socialism.

SonOfDaedalus said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism

But when Bernie talks about "Democratic Socialism" he describes a Social Democracy NOT Democratic Socialism.

He does say "What Democratic Socialism means to me" but then he goes ahead and defines ordinary democrat principles that have been around since FDR. And the other countries around the world he describes are Social Democracies.

So is it that Bernie doesn't understand Democratic Socialism or is he being incredibly dishonest about what this means? In Democratic Socialism there is NO CAPITALISM. The government controls EVERYTHING not just health care.

Click to expand...

The following are quotes by Bernie Sanders given in the article through the link further below:

“It's time we had democratic socialism for working families ... It means that we should not be providing welfare for corporations, huge tax breaks for the very rich, or trade policies which boost corporate profits as workers lose their jobs. It means that we create a government that works for all of us, not just powerful special interests. It means that economic rights must be an essential part of what America stands for.”

“Democratic socialism means that we have government policy which does not allow the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuel industry to destroy our environment and our planet, and that we have a moral responsibility to combat climate change and leave this planet healthy and inhabitable for our kids and grandchildren.”

https://www.bustle.com/articles/125...atic-socialism-that-easily-explain-his-values

In the first excerpt, Bernie is applying democratic socialism to only that which he stated. That would indeed be “democratic socialism” as respects capitalist profits at social expense.

In the second excerpt is the same thing. He is excluding capitalist interests overriding environmental concerns. That is democratic socialism applied only as stated.

Bernie is not being “being incredibly dishonest about what this means”. He is stating exactly what he means by “democratic socialism” as applied to what he believes capitalist interest should be excluded. He does accept and does not reject capitalism. Bernie, himself, is indeed a social democrat. He believes society and common people should be protected from the unfair advantage of capitalist interests.