So, if you think it’s a problem that Bernie is a millionaire, then you don’t understand democratic socialism. You probably think it’s communism, and requires a dictatorship and corrupt leaders. You’d be wrong. You may think it means everyone is supposed to share equally, which means everyone has nothing. You’d also be very wrong.
Democratic socialism allows for plenty of money to be made. But because the people get a bigger voice, they get a bigger piece of the pie. In the long run, done right, democratic socialism can make a strong economy even stronger, because spending drives profits, and everyone has more to spend. Businesses don’t get to be as gluttonous, and corporations have to behave like good citizens…because the people get a bigger say in how they are run. They have to pay a living wage because otherwise, all their money can’t buy them favoritism from the government. People are healthier and don’t have to worry what happens when they are sick, or going broke to pay their medical bills. Kids get a great education in EVERY school district, because teachers are paid well and schools are well funded. Education, learning how to be a more productive person, is free to everyone, and the people become a more productive workforce. Everything gets better. Why? Because business doesn’t run America, the people do. Because we get to decide that, teaching our kids and everyone going to the doctor whenever they need it, is more important to US than dropping bombs in Afghanistan to protect our oil interests and the profits of Big Oil and of course the Military Industrial Complex, which currently slurps up most of our HUGE annual budget. Because the people get to decide how our money is spent, we can choose to invest in US. In moving humanity forward, not back to some imaginary time when everything was supposedly so wonderful. That time never existed. Not for most of us.
The time to define our future DOES exist. We can choose to keep killing our enemies for resources, or we can try to understand and help them with the resources we have. We can wait until climate change cripples the world economy, or we can take action now. By doing so, we’ll be spawning a cleaner, healthier, brighter future for all, as the new industries create new, well paying jobs and an economic boom.
Democratic socialism just means that we get to put people first, and profits second, because our voices are louder and our vote has power.
Progress happens only when you aren’t always looking backwards. Where we’ve been isn’t as important as where we’re going. It’s time we go further.
The Article ‘How Bernie Sanders’ rhetoric has changed since becoming a millionaire’ originally appeared on https://thinkprogress.org/video/bernies-millionaire-problem/
Jamie’s comments are his own.
