What Exactly is Democratic Socialism? Is it Relevant?

2015-10-14T10:27:25-04:00

Senator Bernie Sanders is a self-proclaimed "Democratic Socialist." However, what does this mean Exactly? Please feel free to shed some Light.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Oct 14 at 2015 10:28 AM

2015-10-14T10:28:26-04:00

He wants you to vote freely to give the state control of your life.......

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Oct 14 at 2015 11:01 AM

2015-10-14T11:01:03-04:00

There you go!

Democratic socialism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Democratic socialism is a political ideology advocating a democratic political system alongside a socialist economic system, involving a combination of political democracy (usually multi-party democracy) with social ownership of the means of production. Although sometimes used synonymously with "socialism", the adjective "democratic" is sometimes added to distinguish itself from non-democratic forms of socialism, such as the Marxist–Leninist...

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Oct 14 at 2015 11:10 AM

2015-10-14T11:10:11-04:00

Simply put, he believes in "Socialistic" principles. Now, this is actual socialism, as opposed to what most people think of socialism. The EASIEST way to describe it is to use the military.

Examples:

Military Medicine system. "Free" Health Care. It's provided to everyone. We all "pay" into it (lower base pay for a benefit), and everyone gets it.

Chowhall. Three meals a day. Go to any chowhall. Eat what you want. Go back for seconds.

GI Bill. Education is covered through service.

I know I will get arguments about this, but these are designed to be "simple" parallels to highlight what Sen Sanders wants. I am not saying they will "scale" well with the American populace at large. The bigger the program, the more admin & bureaucracy the program needs to be sustainable, to the point where taxes are more than you make.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 14 at 2015 11:12 AM

2015-10-14T11:12:05-04:00

Just a group of Socialist believe that they are the majority (51%) and speak for the majority(99%).

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 14 at 2015 11:16 AM

2015-10-14T11:16:07-04:00

Regardless how you want to label it...socialism is just that...socialism - and it hasn't done well in societies. SEN Sanders wants to keep referring to the Nordic countries and how we can learn from them. What people aren't analyzing is the fact we have cities in America with more people then their countries, their tax rates are ridiculously high (one has a 60+% tax rate on all income earnings over 55k/year) - and then you begin to drill into the social behavior aspect, their suicide rates are extremely high and their dependency on anti-depressants is only second to Iceland , and they binge drink more than their European counterparts. If that's the democratic socialist utopia he wants to mirror the US after, then I want no part of it.

I'll stick to being a tourist in countries like that.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 14 at 2015 11:35 AM

2015-10-14T11:35:11-04:00

I think Bernie in practice is much closer to Social Democracy than Democratic Socialism, based on his positions. The scary thing is the amongst the 15+, he is the only one who seems remotely reasonable. Voting in a world of "lesser of two evils" sucks.

Response by Sgt Tom Cunnally made Oct 14 at 2015 11:48 AM

2015-10-14T11:48:14-04:00

What Exactly is Democratic Socialism? Is it Relevant?...

Here is what we called it in Boston MA when Deval Patrick , a Dem Socialist was our governor.

If it moves, tax it & if it still alive tax it again... and then spread the tax income around on those who
don't believe in working but just have their hands out.......

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Oct 14 at 2015 12:15 PM

2015-10-14T12:15:45-04:00

Bernie said it well. If you make millions of dollars...you shouldn't keep it...you should share and spread the wealth...you should not have to pay for anything medical...we should be like Sweeden, Norway and other countries who take care of their citizens....if you are middle class or poor, you should be paying less taxes...BUT everything else should be taxed to death....then TEXAS who doesn't have state income taxes will end up having to pay...and WE DON'T want that!

Response by 1LT Aaron Barr made Oct 15 at 2015 2:33 PM

2015-10-15T14:33:34-04:00

It's legalized mass thievery, pure and simple. This nation was founded on the idea that we have certain rights by our nature as human beings. These rights precede government and securing them is the reason governments were formed in the first place. Amongst those rights is the right to property and it's FAR more important than people think. The first property is oneself; each individual is his own master and his mind, body, time and product of his labor are solely his individual, private property to which NO PERSON has a right.

What Sanders proposes is to allow the majority to legally rob the minority. Things like this are why the Founders took such a dim view of democracy and established a Constitutional Republic instead. Nothing he proposes has a chance of accomplishing anything but the exact opposite of its stated intent and predicted outcome. If democratic socialism worked, Detroit would be the model city of America rather than the demilitarized pocket of Third Worldism 50 years of being run by people of Sander's views have made it.