I think Bernie is a very intelligent man but you want me to believe that he's misusing terms. He could easily say, "I'm a Social Democrat" and that would put an end to it. Are you suggesting that Bernie doesn't know the difference between a Social Democrat and a Democratic Socialist?
I can't rule that out. What I can say, is look at everything he's said on policy for years, and all of it fits what I said. So if you want to claim that his use of the term 'Democratic Socialist' while every other word he's said for years has said something different than that literal term outweighs all the facts, that's all you have to go on.
You and I aren't arguing about the term.
Here is what I mean by pragmatic. Social systems are extremely complex. It's impossible to predict the result of changes to a complex system. You could mean well but your change can result in disaster. Louis XVI reacted to rising price of bread due to inflation by freezing the price of bread. He meant well but it was a total disaster and created shortages. So changes should be gradual and incremental to avoid catastrophes.
No offense, but that is simplistic, and doesn't really address 'pragmatic'. How 'pragmatic' is our radical, huge shift toward plutocracy for forty years? Was creating Medicare 'pragmatic'? Was the FDR New Deal 'pragmatic' and gradual and incremental, did it have catastrophes?
You may or may not know a fundamental advertising term, FUD - it stands for "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt". It's a messaging strategy to attack opponents. Yes, there are people who sit around looking for ways to create FUD. When Republicans screamed "death panels" at the ACA, they weren't shooting from the hip, it was FUD - they were trying to get low-information voters to feel FUD about the ACA and oppose it, and it worked.
That's all you're really offering here - trying to paint Bernie as some radical, that his polices aren't 'gradual and incremental' and so they risk "catastrophe" - RUN AWAY! FEAR! UNCERTAINTY! DOUBT! How can you vote for that?
I don't think you are doing that intentionally - I suspect you have fallen for FUD and are repeating it.
I don't agree that we should force everyone into Medicare. I believe in the incremental steps where people have the choice to join a government health care plan instead of a private one. If the government plan is better it will eventually replace private plans. But the incremental approach is better. We can see resolve problems as they emerge. And there are always problems.
I also don't believe in free college. College has become far too expensive and online education is emerging as an alternative. I would prefer that government creates a free online educational program.
Now, you're going from the FUD stuff - Bernie is a radical who risks catastrophe - into policy disagreements. You shouldn't really mix the two, but you did.
So, I'll adjust my response as well for those points. I think there's a very valid discussion to be had about the healthcare issue. All I ask is that you be informed and not have just a knee-jerk opposition. Try to understand the real differences between the options. Maybe you'll feel the same.
But Countries like England and Canada and Scandanavian countries sure aren't rushing away from 'Medicare for All', feeling 'forced' to be on them (a propagandistic word, but let's let it slide, it's not exactly wrong). Our most loved healthcare in the US is the VA and Medicare. Maybe they're not so terrible? Maybe we should consider what the advocates and experts say, not only FUD and resistance to change?
You know, I think that for many of the majority who have healthcare, and are used to it even with the high cost, it might not feel like such a pressing need to get healthcare for the tens of millions who don't have it, or even to reduce the costs. I've long said that people have a bias toward what they have - and people are resistant to change. Fearful.
I don't know what to say about your opposition to free college. There's a huge burden on young people, the policy would result in a happier, more productive society, but you can believe what you like - what can I say? But a majority agree with Bernie as I understand.
