With the rise of Bernie Sanders and the downfall of Hillary Clinton's poll numbers, it seems more likely than ever that Bernie Sanders socialism will be the new norm of the Democratic Party. His far-left rhetoric is forcing the Democrats to move ever more to the left, just like how Donald Trump is forcing the Republicans to move ever more to the right.
He calls himself a 'democratic socialist.' To defend himself, he brings up Eisenhower and he brings up FDR. 'Socialism works!' his supporters cry out. What they fail to mention is that Eisenhower wasn't a socialist. And that those magical 90 percent tax rates weren't actually 90 percent. And that Eisenhower balanced the budget.
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Eisenhower also said, "If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They'll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government.
But wait, what about FDR?! He saved America from the Great Depression! Oh wait, no he didn't. That was World War II. Now I am not advocating for war to save us, as I'm more in line with Eisenhower on the military-industrial complex, but FDR didn't save the United States. However, he did put Japanese-Americans in prison camps. So, score one for democratic socialism.
There has been this battle over socialism ever since Marx released his books "The Communist Manifesto" and "Das Kapital." This is where socialism ultimately stems from. This is the origin of Bernie Sanders's ideology, whether or not you want to admit it.
Bastiat in "The Law" refutes socialism, writing, "Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain."
But greed! Greed is not good, according to Bernie Sanders. Those greedy capitalists and the greedy billionaires and millionaires are ruining America, his supporters cry out. But what is greed? As Milton Friedman put in brilliantly, "Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests."
Socialism works, they cry out, fighting to find working examples. They can't bring up Cuba, where taxi drivers make more than doctors. They can't bring up China or the Soviet Union, for they've adopted capitalism. Venezuela is actually democratic socialist, considering they elected Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, but they decided to kick the socialists out of power after years of economic stagnation.
But Denmark! They bring up the examples of the social democracies with welfare states and call them democratic socialist. And yet Denmark's prime minister resisted this, saying that they are a market economy. Denmark is more friendlier to businesses, has a lower corporate tax rate, and other items which would make Bernie Sanders shake his head and fists. The United States, due to new regulations and Obamacare has been losing its place for economic freedom.
But that doesn't matter to Bernie Sanders.
The bottom line is that with socialism, you eventually run of out of other people's money.
