Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has an electability problem. It isn’t because of his reliance on grassroots funding. It isn’t because he’s Jewish (but, in his words, “not particularly religious”). It’s because he’s a socialist.
A liberal, freeloading, class-warfare-instigating socialist.
Socialism – the S word.
To many, the idea of socialism conjures up images of a dystopian future depicted in an Ayn Rand or George Orwell novel. With socialism, we will all be waiting in bread lines for our next meal. Creativity and success will be penalized with outrageous taxation. Then the thought police will come in and the government will strip you of your First and Second Amendment rights in the effort to maintain a harmonious society.
To most Americans, socialism is synonymous with the welfare and nanny states.
But maybe that isn’t so. Maybe Americans are misinterpreting the definition of socialism.
Socialism is the third most-searched-for word on Merriam-Webster.com, which defines it as “a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies.”
These “industries” are things we take for granted. We don’t even think of them as industries per se.
Socialism is responsible for our interstate highways, the military, the police, the post office, the VA, Pell grants, public schools, fire departments, and national parks. A trip to the public beach? Socialism. The list is long, and socialist programs enhance our lives every day.
The peculiar thing is, while most politicians (of both parties) run away from the S word, they all embrace some form or another of socialism. The GOP loves the military. Donald Trump, a man who apparently needs no one else’s money, said in a Fox News interview with Bill O’Reilly, “There’s nobody bigger or better at the military than I am.”
Even Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman and ultimate libertarian (former) candidate who rejected the idea of excessive military use/expansion, doesn’t dare question the existence of what is arguably the world’s largest bureaucracy – the U.S. armed forces.
Why? Because Americans love socialism. They just don’t know it.
The same people who proudly boast anti-socialist bumper stickers drive on the interstate daily. They regularly enjoy their God-given freedoms and inalienable rights, which are honorably defended by the U.S military. (Wait, socialism protects freedom!?)
The same people who gladly purchase 49-cent stamps so that they may drop off their letters in an outdoor metal box and expect someone to deliver those letters to a specific address (let’s say Miami to Seattle or Tucson to Boston) are the ones whining about socialism.
The same groups that donate millions to campaigns aimed at fighting the tyranny of socialism are gobbling up farm and energy subsidies.
There is such a thing as a mixed economy. All successful economies of developed nations have one thing in common: They are a blend of capitalism and socialism. Yes, there is a spectrum. Economics is not black and white, nor left and right.
Bernie Sanders isn’t running as a socialist. He calls himself a democratic socialist. But his opponents will use the S word as a rhetorical weapon, knowing full well that the majority of American voters do not understand what socialism really is.
Sanders summarized his democratic-socialist stance perfectly in an interview with the Associated Press 25 years ago. “To me, socialism doesn’t mean state ownership of everything, by any means,” he said. “It means creating a nation, and a world, in which all human beings have a decent standard of living.”
We’re all a little bit socialist. Sanders is just the only one honest enough to admit it.
Duncan Rodman is a senior majoring in mass communications. He can be reached at duncanrodman@mail.usf.edu
