What is a Socialist? Let's ask Bernie's Supporters

Four days ago, CNN polled Bernie Sanders' supporters in Iowa.  They asked people to define Socialism.  They had no real clue.  Frankly, the responses are downright scary.

See the next post for Senator Ben Sasse's definition of "What is Conservatism?"

Here is the clip from CNN:  cnns-baldwin-asks-sanders-supporters-to-define-the-word-socialist/

To be fair, here is an explanation of American democratic socialism from Peter Dreier, a professor of Politics at Occidental College.   See:  dreier-democratic-socialism/

To me, socialism is simply the step between heavily regulated capitalism (like we have now) and communism.

If you read between the lines in Dreier's description, you can see the the democracy part of his socialism is antithetical to our Constitutional Republic and its Constitution.  The United Sates was founded on the principles of individual freedom and responsibility, strong property rights and that the person knows best how to run their own lives.

Unfortunately, many democracies eventually end as some sort of a tyrannical state, because even with the best of intentions, democracies give their power to bureaucracies that begin to function for their own well-being, not that of the people. That is happening currently in the US.

Further reading between the lines, one can see that the appeal of socialism is based on envy and greed.  The futile quest for equality and equity is instigated by envy of the smarter, the better off, the harder worker.  That leads to re-distributionist laws that destroy the freedom concept of the Founders. That is a key point for Bernie Sanders...for 40 years he has had the same speech, that the rich are the problem and he wants their stuff.  Unfortunately, this road also leads to him wanting your stuff, via huge taxes, big government, and over-regulation.

Oh yeah, one last point:  The Tax Foundation last week published their evaluation of Sanders' tax proposals, applied to the next ten years.  It results in about 9.5% reduction in GDP and 6 million fewer FTE jobs.  His tax increases would be 13.5%, but only produce 9.8% after considering the reduction in GDP.  There would be a 10.5+% reduction in income for bottom 99% of earners, which turns into 12.8% after considering the reduction in GDP.

See here:  details-and-analysis-senator-bernie-sanders-s-tax-plan

So much for JFK's famous quote:  "A rising tide lifts all boats."  I don't think Bernie is a boater.

Here some more about Bernie as a Socialist:  bernie-sanders-claims-socialism-is-capitalism/

Here's many more insights into Bernie from IDB:    Many Sanders commentaries