Bernie's speech today is, arguably, his most important one. He has to surmount all of the preconceptions that the American public--specifically the Democratic Party. He hopes to do this buy painting himself as the heir to a great Democrats' hero, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Democratic socialism, he says, is a democracy with socialist economic systems, rather than a socialist government. He argues that FDR's Social Security is, in fact, a socialist endeavor and that he is continuing the work of a great Democrat president.
He said, at Georgetown University this afternoon, “Democratic socialism means that we must create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy. Democratic socialism means that we must reform a political system in America today which is not only grossly unfair but, in many respects, corrupt.”
Sanders clarified his political position, attacking misconceptions head on by explaining the difference between his intended government and a socialist government. He contextualized Democratic Socialism using FDR as an example of a president who lifted us out of one of the darkest times in American history.
In his speech, meet with enthusiastic support from the student body, Bernie touched upon many of his talking points--from free public university, to raising the minimum wage, to health care, to poverty. His message, overall, was one of "we can do better". I, personally, agree. I believe that we can do better as a country. Sanders did an excellent job of clarifying himself today. That said, he did appeal to the progressives once more, possibly raising a legitimate concern of his ability to centralize himself in a general election. I happen to be a part of the supporters that he speaks to, so I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard, but I can understand how people may feel that he was preaching to the choir at times.
Do you think Democratic Socialism is right for America? Has Bernie's speech helped to dispel misunderstandings, or would those who misunderstand also not listen to this communication? Does Bernie have a chance? Do you agree with any of his ideas?
http://www.npr.org/2015/11/19/456668030/bernie-sanders-explains-democratic-socialism-in-6-clips
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-defends-democratic-socialism-calling-it-route-to-economic-fairness/
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-to-invoke-roosevelt-in-speech-defining-his-vision-of-democratic-socialism/
9 comments:
I believe that Democratic Socialism could help the lower classes. Although some of Bernie's talking points such as free public universities and taxes on the 1% sound like a good idea, they may be hard in practice. The odds of passing reforms like that are slim to none because of how many people who strongly oppose the idea. In addition, making public colleges tuition free will only increase the amount of taxes, which will not sit well with anyone. However, I believe Bernie's points are critical in advocating for the advancement of lower classes. By creating an economy that works for everyone, the wealth could be better dispersed across America instead of lying in the hands of the 1%.
Democratic Socialism and its policies are only truly necessary when we are in or are climbing out of a huge recession. Bernie's craving for a stronger control of the economy by the government will certainly cause excess spending, which could be good or bad depending on whether or not you believe the country is in a recession. The country, in my opinion, is steadily climbing out of the recession of 2008 with the current stimulus plan Obama has implemented. To spend even more in the coming years is irresponsible, because the economy will already be back at operating efficiently by that time. Democratic Socialism is a great platform for fiscal policy, but government control will only burden economic growth in the future, not further stimulate it. Bernie's message is strong, the taboo of socialism in this country is irrational because we see it function well in Europe and East Asia. So can Democratic Socialism be good for America? Of course. Right now? Probably not. Will socialism's taboo remain in American culture? You bet! But, is Bernie making a good case for it? Personally, I think he is doing a better job than most ever could.
After Bernie Sanders speech at Georgetown I have a new perspective on Democratic Socialism. I, like many others, automatically associate “socialism” with Stalin and Soviet Russia. Thus I was wary of his policies and the fact that he had relatively recently aligned himself with Democratic Party. I now realize that their are already some socialist-esque policies already implemented in the United States, most famous being Social Security. This was even implemented by FDR, arguably one of the best presidents in U.S. history. I think that this previous success is a major plus for the campaign for Democratic Socialism. I also agree with Cat; these policies would be tremendous in helping the poorer sections of the United States. Simultaneously many of his policies would benefit people from many different backgrounds such as free public college and raising minimum wage. However I also see the issues with these promises as Cat pointed out. There is already a huge federal deficit and I highly doubt that he would be able to pass a bill raising taxes to support these projects through Congress. This speech is an outlet for Bernie to embrace a label that has been used against him. While I think this speech was executed well and helped people to understand Democratic Socialism, the real issue for the Sander’s team is that they can't get enough people to get on board with Socialism, they must get voters to see past it.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/19/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-socialism-speech-georgetown/index.html
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/bernie-sanders-socialism-speech-georgetown
Free public university, raising the minimum wage, expanding health care and decreasing poverty are all ideal situations, but they may be hard to carry out without hurting the Federal Budget. One thing that concerned me was when some asked how Sanders would find the money for his proposed programs as president and Sander’s replied by saying that “he was seeking 'transformational' change in America and that if the millions of people who felt disenfranchised from politics were to vote, his policies would pass easily and the economy would be stronger”. This indicates that it will take more than one presidency to make a change. Who knows if other presidents will continue his transformation? A transformation in our economic system will take years. I don’t think Bernie Sanders will be successful this year as this is the first serious mention of democratic socialism. Not many voters are accustomed to the ideas he is presenting at this time. In a few years time, as the term becomes more familiar, it may be accepted in society, but as of now, the term still brings feelings of uneasiness.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-defends-democratic-socialism-calling-it-route-to-economic-fairness/
I originally agreed with everything Bernie Sanders stood for and was proposing, but hearing statements from his speech at Georgetown today only made me further support him. After hearing his clarification of the meaning of "Democratic Socialism," I completely agree that the country does need to do better and make the economy benefit everyone, rather than just the wealthy. I agree with the statement that when one says, "Democratic Socialism," people automatically jump to images of Communism. For this reason, I believe that today's speech was, in fact, his most important speech of the entire campaign because he needed a chance to clarify his stances and assure the people that the "socialism" part of the term is only a portion of the big picture. I think that a lot of people's eyes have been opened to the positives of his plans now that he has explained his views in his speech today; whether these people now support him and agree with them is not certain, however. On the other hand, there are probably loads of people who remain closed off to the ideas that Bernie proposes. Overall, I believe that Bernie Sanders has a very good chance at appealing to the majority of Democrats, especially after clarifying his stance as a Democratic Socialist today. But, I am unsure whether he will be able to pull out the win in the general election because he would probably not appeal to any centrist or rightist voters due to how drastic his policies are.
I believe that Democratic Socialism is exactly what the country needs right now (and always really). I disagree with what 2CHAINZ said about it "only being necessary when we are in or climbing out of a huge recession." One of Bernie's main points today was that he would reform the economy to make it beneficial to all Americans, not just the wealthy ones. Isn't this an ideal that we should have all the time, where everyone is being given equal rights, opportunities, and protections? He also stated today that he wants to reform the political system, which is corrupt and "grossly unfair." The ideals that Bernie wants to implement are of fairness, equality, and caring for the entire population rather than simply the ones who have the wealth to buy their say in matters. In my opinion, these are the ideals of a moral, benevolent society, so Democratic Socialism is just what America needs.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-defends-democratic-socialism-calling-it-route-to-economic-fairness/
I personally agree that we can do better economically, politically and socially as a country, but not in the way Bernie Sanders describes it. I feel that these college plans and health care plans are not needed in the United States and are things that should be privately paid for by individuals. I personally do not believe that higher classes should be paying extremely high taxes for it to be redistributed through the economy. Also, as Gursimar said before, in order to pay for these programs, Bernie Sanders would need to increase the deficit, which is not ideal right now.
My father started from the bottom of the socio-economic ladder but worked his way up due to the American ideal of working hard and achieving success. Bernie Sanders’s plan does not ensure success for the poor; all his plan does is give out money to the poor and the middle class. People should work to earn their money and they should not be waiting for government handouts. I understand his desire to help the economic gap issue, but I do not believe that socialist ideals are a way to solve it. The middle class is doing worse now due to stagnant job opportunities, stagnant income and higher taxes. Bernie Sanders says that higher minimum wage will ensure higher income; however, this will cause businesses to lay off more people therefore decreasing the amount of jobs for Americans. I think that lowering taxes and decreasing government spending will allow the middle class and the lower classes to rise without much restriction. Lower taxes will allow businesses to raise incomes and therefore putting more money in workers’ pockets.
I do not think that Sanders will win the Democratic nomination due to his extreme leftist leanings; I think that the Democrats will nominate Hillary Clinton due to her more centrist views that will enable her to win a general election.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-defends-democratic-socialism-calling-it-route-to-economic-fairness/
Bernie Sanders idea of creating a Democratic Socialist government is a great... theoretically. As Gursimar brought up, creating all the programs needed to complete this change would increase our deficit, which would go against the efforts trying to be made to strengthen our economy and immerse from the debt that America is drowning under. I think it is important to increase the minimum wage to give opportunity of success to the lower class, however I firmly believe that social issues such as these should be put on the back burner until the national debt has been sorted out. In the mean time, America should consider raising taxes on the rich, encourage investing in the stock market, and work to create jobs for youths so that they too can, first, earn money, and second pay taxes. For the United States to make the many and much needed social changes that our society rightfully demands we must first reach economic stability - this will not be achieved through taking more money from the government. Once this is done, then I would be far more inclined to vote for Sanders because his propositions of public universities being free is one that I think would be extremely beneficial to society. Many young people would still be struggling in the workforce, even once the economy was stabilized, and to increase their chances of getting work I think free university would be extremely beneficial. Additionally, I think it is important that Americans have a right to an education and that this education be expanded to the college level. In doing so, hopefully, it would decrease the gap between the lower and middle class. This would be ideal, however, it is currently unachievable in the state that the US government and finances are in. Therefore, I think that Bernie needs to rework his plan or he will be loosing many votes.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/19/bernie-sanders-defends-democratic-socialism-calling-it-route-to-economic-fairness/
Personally, I feel that Democratic Socialism from an economic standpoint has absolutely no place in America. The system penalizes people for being successful by taxing them at a much higher rate, which is already the case and a President like Bernie Sanders would only make this much higher. Bernie said he would take it to well over 50%. The American government should not be a charity that helps the lower class especially when all Americans have opportunities for a free college education if they work hard in high school it is more than possible to get a full scholarship to a college, in many cases because of financial aid. Another one of Sander’s arguments is to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour. But this would likely have an undesired effect because it would just cause major inflation and cause unemployment to be a lot higher and put the unemployed even further behind. I think Bernie's speech just makes people think that this system is fiscally plausible but it isn't. As "2Chainz" said this system would just cause excess spending that would put us in way more debt. I personally think Bernie does have a chance because a lot of people are buying into what he is saying. I don't agree with any of his fiscal policies however I do agree that the price of college is too high right now. However, we can't afford to make it free its just not possible.
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Bernie_Sanders_Tax_Reform.htm
I think that theres a lot of good that one can draw from some of Senator Sanders' democratic socialism. Socially, there's a great deal of agreeable standpoints, and progressive views on individual rights that appeals to the growing population of millennial voters. I actually believe that Bernie will stay relevant into mid-2016 for that reason alone -- his favor of personal freedoms as opposed to right-wing government restrictions definitely appeals to more than just the left side of the aisle in the modern day.
Moving over to the economic issues, clearly no one is opposed to free public postsecondary education, or an increased minimum wage for America's hourly-paid workers. However, the reason why we are in the middle of the current financial catastrophe is because we become dedicated to these ideas, even though we have no means to afford them. We are $18 trillion in debt, and it's not gonna start going down if we increase spending on public projects, and increase handouts for lower-income individuals.
Part of what makes America such a great country is the ability of Americans' to rise above, and find themselves at the top of the latter through hard work and sacrifice. With Sanders in office, people will expect money and benefits to be handed to them, and it will be the end of the sentiments that have defined what it means to be an American until now. Bernie has some nice views in theory, but in practice many of them would cause a great loss of American jobs, and would increase taxes to a ludicrous level.
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