Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Sorry Hillary, But Bernie's Definition of Democratic Socialism Is
What Most Americans Yearn For
________________________________________
Sorry Hillary, But Bernie's Definition of Democratic Socialism Is What Most
Americans Yearn For
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
October 14, 2015
In Tuesday night's debate of Democrats seeking the presidency, Sen. Bernie
Sanders didn't do the best job saying what it meant to be a democratic
socialist when pressed by CNN moderator Anderson Cooper.
"Senator Sanders, a Gallup poll says half the country would not put a
socialist in the White House," Cooper began [3]. "You call yourself a
democratic socialist. How can any kind of socialist win a general election?"
"Well, we're gonna win because first, we're gonna explain what democratic
socialism is," Sanders tartly replied. "And what democratic socialism is
about is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one-tenth of 1
percent in this country own almost 90 percent -almost -own almost as much
wealth as the bottom 90 percent. That it is wrong, today, in a rigged
economy, that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent."
Moreover, every other "major country" considers health care a right, and
offers paid family and medical leave, he said. And Americans should learn
from "countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway."
Though the audience applauded, this was not Bernie's best answer.
Not only did it give Hillary Clinton an opening to say that while she agreed
with his economic critique, the U.S. was not Denmark but a greater country,
belittling him. But Sanders' reply delved into details instead of more
clearly stating his core principles.
In 1988, when Bernie Sanders was first running for the U.S. House, he made a
cassette recording. One side featured [4] folk songs that he "sang," while
the B side was filled with personal reflections, beginning with a revealing
explanation of what socialism means to him. It starts with a vision for a
much better world, living and participating in a real democracy, and
controling one's economic destiny.
Bernie didn't use any of these lines in Tuesday's debate, but perhaps going
forward he will, as his core philosophy has not wavered. Here, in its
entirety, is what he said:
What Does Socialism Mean?
"What does it mean to be a socialist?" Bernie starts. "It means a lot of
things. I think first though, and most important, it means that you have a
vision that's very different from what the status quo politicians have, and
essentially, what it means is that you have a feeling that this world can be
radically, radically different from what it is right now, and that what's
going on in front of your eyes is crazy, it's not real, it's a phase of
history that needn't exist and that someday will pass.
"You really can almost take it seriously that you live in a world where it
is considered normal that people go around killing each other. You turn on
the television, there they are shooting each other. You turn on the
television, there you have people who are living out on the streets or in
some places on this planet starving to death, while at the same time you
have other people who have billions and billions of dollars. More wealth
than they're going to be able to use in a million lifetimes.
"The basic insanity of that, the immorality of that to me is so abhorrent
that my feeling is that somebody, hopefully, in years to come people look
back on this era and say, How could it be? How could people allow other
people to be hungry, starve to death, they having nothing when other people
had tremendous wealth?
"Also what socialism means for me is very similar to what it meant for
Eugene Debs, and it really means nothing more than democracy. It basically
means that human beings are entitled to have the inalienable right to
control their own lives, and that means that when you go to work you're not
working for somebody else who could fire you tomorrow because they don't
like the way you comb your hair or you don't come to work on Sunday or, for
any reason, whether they can move the factory that you've worked in for 30
years out of your town because they can make more money going to Mexico.
"It means democracy, which means much more than just having the right to
vote once every four years. People think, 'Well, we live in a democratic
society.' In some degree, we do. We have some democratic rights, but having
the freedom to vote for [presidential candidates] Ronald Reagan or Walter
Mondale once every four years isn't what democracy is about.
"It essentially means that to as great a degree as possible, human beings
can control their lives, their workplace, their environment, and the truth
is that in a nation of 230 million people in a complex society, no one quite
knows how that's going to work. I mean, that's not easy.
"I think we know that there aren't necessarily simplistic type of solutions,
but when I look at the world today and you find that half the people don't
even vote anymore. They've given up on the political system. The
overwhelming majority of poor people don't participate. That people feel
themselves impotent, they feel themselves powerless.
"They vote for the Reagans or the Mondales because of 30-second commercials;
that the politicians in our country today are bought and sold as
commodities. They're sold on the TV as somebody who has run for office that
you know that most of what people do in a campaign is figure out how they
can raise money from wealthy people in order to pay for these 30 seconds.
That's not democracy.
"It's not democracy when the media in this country is owned by gigantic
corporations who define and shape the issues for you, and politicians are
puppets sitting around thinking, God, how do I get my message on 27 seconds
that they're going to give me on the television screen, maybe if I'm lucky?
"The truth is you can't explain complex issues in 27 seconds, but the people
who own the TV stations could care less because their function and their
desire is not to see people communicate with each other, not to see really
real discussion of the issues of the day, but to make money.
"That's basically what socialism means to me. Democracy, participation, the
right of people to own the world in which they live in rather than be slaves
of other people."
The next 2016 Democratic Party presidential debate [5] is Saturday, November
14, in Des Moines, Iowa. The other four debates will be in New Hampshire,
South Carolina, Wisconsin and Florida.
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
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Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/sorry-hillary-bernies-definition-democ
ratic-socialism-what-most-americans-yearn
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/13/the-oct-13-democra
tic-debate-who-said-what-and-what-it-means/
[4] https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-shall-overcome-ep/id992990157
[5]
http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-debate-schedule/2016-democrat
ic-primary-debate-schedule/
[6] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Sorry Hillary, But
Bernie's Definition of Democratic Socialism Is What Most Americans
Yearn For
[7] http://www.alternet.org/
[8] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Sorry Hillary, But Bernie's Definition of Democratic Socialism Is
What Most Americans Yearn For
Sorry Hillary, But Bernie's Definition of Democratic Socialism Is What Most
Americans Yearn For
By Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2]
October 14, 2015
In Tuesday night's debate of Democrats seeking the presidency, Sen. Bernie
Sanders didn't do the best job saying what it meant to be a democratic
socialist when pressed by CNN moderator Anderson Cooper.
"Senator Sanders, a Gallup poll says half the country would not put a
socialist in the White House," Cooper began [3]. "You call yourself a
democratic socialist. How can any kind of socialist win a general election?"
"Well, we're gonna win because first, we're gonna explain what democratic
socialism is," Sanders tartly replied. "And what democratic socialism is
about is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one-tenth of 1
percent in this country own almost 90 percent -almost -own almost as much
wealth as the bottom 90 percent. That it is wrong, today, in a rigged
economy, that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent."
Moreover, every other "major country" considers health care a right, and
offers paid family and medical leave, he said. And Americans should learn
from "countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway."
Though the audience applauded, this was not Bernie's best answer.
Not only did it give Hillary Clinton an opening to say that while she agreed
with his economic critique, the U.S. was not Denmark but a greater country,
belittling him. But Sanders' reply delved into details instead of more
clearly stating his core principles.
In 1988, when Bernie Sanders was first running for the U.S. House, he made a
cassette recording. One side featured [4] folk songs that he "sang," while
the B side was filled with personal reflections, beginning with a revealing
explanation of what socialism means to him. It starts with a vision for a
much better world, living and participating in a real democracy, and
controling one's economic destiny.
Bernie didn't use any of these lines in Tuesday's debate, but perhaps going
forward he will, as his core philosophy has not wavered. Here, in its
entirety, is what he said:
What Does Socialism Mean?
"What does it mean to be a socialist?" Bernie starts. "It means a lot of
things. I think first though, and most important, it means that you have a
vision that's very different from what the status quo politicians have, and
essentially, what it means is that you have a feeling that this world can be
radically, radically different from what it is right now, and that what's
going on in front of your eyes is crazy, it's not real, it's a phase of
history that needn't exist and that someday will pass.
"You really can almost take it seriously that you live in a world where it
is considered normal that people go around killing each other. You turn on
the television, there they are shooting each other. You turn on the
television, there you have people who are living out on the streets or in
some places on this planet starving to death, while at the same time you
have other people who have billions and billions of dollars. More wealth
than they're going to be able to use in a million lifetimes.
"The basic insanity of that, the immorality of that to me is so abhorrent
that my feeling is that somebody, hopefully, in years to come people look
back on this era and say, How could it be? How could people allow other
people to be hungry, starve to death, they having nothing when other people
had tremendous wealth?
"Also what socialism means for me is very similar to what it meant for
Eugene Debs, and it really means nothing more than democracy. It basically
means that human beings are entitled to have the inalienable right to
control their own lives, and that means that when you go to work you're not
working for somebody else who could fire you tomorrow because they don't
like the way you comb your hair or you don't come to work on Sunday or, for
any reason, whether they can move the factory that you've worked in for 30
years out of your town because they can make more money going to Mexico.
"It means democracy, which means much more than just having the right to
vote once every four years. People think, 'Well, we live in a democratic
society.' In some degree, we do. We have some democratic rights, but having
the freedom to vote for [presidential candidates] Ronald Reagan or Walter
Mondale once every four years isn't what democracy is about.
"It essentially means that to as great a degree as possible, human beings
can control their lives, their workplace, their environment, and the truth
is that in a nation of 230 million people in a complex society, no one quite
knows how that's going to work. I mean, that's not easy.
"I think we know that there aren't necessarily simplistic type of solutions,
but when I look at the world today and you find that half the people don't
even vote anymore. They've given up on the political system. The
overwhelming majority of poor people don't participate. That people feel
themselves impotent, they feel themselves powerless.
"They vote for the Reagans or the Mondales because of 30-second commercials;
that the politicians in our country today are bought and sold as
commodities. They're sold on the TV as somebody who has run for office that
you know that most of what people do in a campaign is figure out how they
can raise money from wealthy people in order to pay for these 30 seconds.
That's not democracy.
"It's not democracy when the media in this country is owned by gigantic
corporations who define and shape the issues for you, and politicians are
puppets sitting around thinking, God, how do I get my message on 27 seconds
that they're going to give me on the television screen, maybe if I'm lucky?
"The truth is you can't explain complex issues in 27 seconds, but the people
who own the TV stations could care less because their function and their
desire is not to see people communicate with each other, not to see really
real discussion of the issues of the day, but to make money.
"That's basically what socialism means to me. Democracy, participation, the
right of people to own the world in which they live in rather than be slaves
of other people."
The next 2016 Democratic Party presidential debate [5] is Saturday, November
14, in Des Moines, Iowa. The other four debates will be in New Hampshire,
South Carolina, Wisconsin and Florida.
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including
America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights, and campaigns and
elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting"
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [6]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[7]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/sorry-hillary-bernies-definition-democ
ratic-socialism-what-most-americans-yearn
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/steven-rosenfeld
[2] http://alternet.org
[3]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/13/the-oct-13-democra
tic-debate-who-said-what-and-what-it-means/
[4] https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-shall-overcome-ep/id992990157
[5]
http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-debate-schedule/2016-democrat
ic-primary-debate-schedule/
[6] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Sorry Hillary, But
Bernie's Definition of Democratic Socialism Is What Most Americans
Yearn For
[7] http://www.alternet.org/
[8] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B