He’s riser in the Democratic primaries, so the question is taking on a new urgency. Is Bernie a communist? If so, could America become a communist country?
Some are desperate to say “no". Goodness me, says Newsweek, he’s not a communist! He’s a Democratic Socialist and there’s a difference!
But it’s a difference without meaning. Socialism is on a spectrum -- like autism -- and what happens when you’ve bought into the idea that the government knows best how to order your life, how to plan it, and if things don’t work out quite how they planned, then the natural shift is to more control, more planning. So, even a moderate form of democratic socialism morphs into state socialism and then state-run communism. It’s pretty much inevitable; that’s the lesson from experience. From history.
Have a look at the website of the Democratic Socialists of America. It’s nothing less than out and out Marxism. Hiding there in quite plain sight. [I wrote about the DSA here]
Socialism, Communism, ought to scare the beejusus out of Americans!
And thus: Bernie Sanders ought to scare the beejusus out of Americans!
I recall arriving in communist China in 1976, when it was still in the grip of deep Marxism. I asked, genuinely puzzled, at the different between Socialism and Communism.
For those able to offer any answer (some were not) it was along the lines of: Socialism means “from each according to their ability to each according to their contribution” and Communism is “from each according to their ability and to each according to their needs”.
Note how fine this sounds in theory. Note how unrealistic it is in practice. Example: Steve Jobs spent 80 hours per week spent in the garage, inventing code to change the world. He “contributed” the same as the cleaners also working 80 hours per week removing his trash cans and dirty coffee cups.
So whether he gets according to “contribution” or according to “needs”, he gets the same as the cleaner. To a socialist, to a communist, to a democratic socialist, that’s social justice. To the rest of us, it’s a recipe for decrepitude.
I saw the downside of socialism / communism when I went to live and study in 1970s China. In winter there was only one vegetable available: pal choi. In summer it was not much better. I had ration tickets for my clothes, for my cotton shoes, for my rice, for my meat. That was the result of planning. It cured me of my undergraduate infatuation with socialism.
Forty years later, with injections of the free market, and China is a cornucopia of consumer goods. China has a successful economy to the exact extent that it has a free market.
So, when Bernie talks of socialism, supported by acolytes like AOC, I worry and so should Americans.
Don’t forget: he’s not changed his mind in all these years. He’s proud of it! So what he was is what hs is. A disciple of socialism, aka communism. An admirer of Venezuela, of Cuba, of the Soviet Union. Of, in short, every single outstanding failed state, which has failed because of socialism.
Yes, he’s a communist. Yes, he’s a Democratic Socialist. They’re of the same cloth.
Bernie's supporters are decidedly dodgy. They’re self-described extreme Marxist-Leninists, Anarchists, “truly radical people". And they’re ready to go! They’re not going to let Bernie get away with watering down his communist leanings.
[ADDED: Bernie occasionally protests that he’s a “Socialist” only like Scandinavian countries are socialist. But that’s wrong for two reasons: (a). Scandinavian countries are not socialist, but market economies with some social programs like health care and their leaders are at pains to point this out. And (b) Bernie, whatever his tactical protestations, has often and consistently held firm to his core beliefs, aka Socialism, aka Communism. The evidence of that is overwhelming and from the mouth of the man himself].
Not that he wants to. He’s been a communist for 60 years. He’s proud of it. And I say, having experienced communism (unlike -- I’m guessing here -- most of his supporters and even Bernie himself):
Boo Bolshie Bernie.
Some are desperate to say “no". Goodness me, says Newsweek, he’s not a communist! He’s a Democratic Socialist and there’s a difference!
But it’s a difference without meaning. Socialism is on a spectrum -- like autism -- and what happens when you’ve bought into the idea that the government knows best how to order your life, how to plan it, and if things don’t work out quite how they planned, then the natural shift is to more control, more planning. So, even a moderate form of democratic socialism morphs into state socialism and then state-run communism. It’s pretty much inevitable; that’s the lesson from experience. From history.
Have a look at the website of the Democratic Socialists of America. It’s nothing less than out and out Marxism. Hiding there in quite plain sight. [I wrote about the DSA here]
Socialism, Communism, ought to scare the beejusus out of Americans!
And thus: Bernie Sanders ought to scare the beejusus out of Americans!
I recall arriving in communist China in 1976, when it was still in the grip of deep Marxism. I asked, genuinely puzzled, at the different between Socialism and Communism.
For those able to offer any answer (some were not) it was along the lines of: Socialism means “from each according to their ability to each according to their contribution” and Communism is “from each according to their ability and to each according to their needs”.
Note how fine this sounds in theory. Note how unrealistic it is in practice. Example: Steve Jobs spent 80 hours per week spent in the garage, inventing code to change the world. He “contributed” the same as the cleaners also working 80 hours per week removing his trash cans and dirty coffee cups.
So whether he gets according to “contribution” or according to “needs”, he gets the same as the cleaner. To a socialist, to a communist, to a democratic socialist, that’s social justice. To the rest of us, it’s a recipe for decrepitude.
I saw the downside of socialism / communism when I went to live and study in 1970s China. In winter there was only one vegetable available: pal choi. In summer it was not much better. I had ration tickets for my clothes, for my cotton shoes, for my rice, for my meat. That was the result of planning. It cured me of my undergraduate infatuation with socialism.
Forty years later, with injections of the free market, and China is a cornucopia of consumer goods. China has a successful economy to the exact extent that it has a free market.
So, when Bernie talks of socialism, supported by acolytes like AOC, I worry and so should Americans.
Don’t forget: he’s not changed his mind in all these years. He’s proud of it! So what he was is what hs is. A disciple of socialism, aka communism. An admirer of Venezuela, of Cuba, of the Soviet Union. Of, in short, every single outstanding failed state, which has failed because of socialism.
Yes, he’s a communist. Yes, he’s a Democratic Socialist. They’re of the same cloth.
Bernie's supporters are decidedly dodgy. They’re self-described extreme Marxist-Leninists, Anarchists, “truly radical people". And they’re ready to go! They’re not going to let Bernie get away with watering down his communist leanings.
[ADDED: Bernie occasionally protests that he’s a “Socialist” only like Scandinavian countries are socialist. But that’s wrong for two reasons: (a). Scandinavian countries are not socialist, but market economies with some social programs like health care and their leaders are at pains to point this out. And (b) Bernie, whatever his tactical protestations, has often and consistently held firm to his core beliefs, aka Socialism, aka Communism. The evidence of that is overwhelming and from the mouth of the man himself].
Not that he wants to. He’s been a communist for 60 years. He’s proud of it. And I say, having experienced communism (unlike -- I’m guessing here -- most of his supporters and even Bernie himself):
Boo Bolshie Bernie.
