2020 Presidential Candidates

[jp1]

I’m curious how people panic buying TP has anything to do with socialism. Capitalism, on the other hand, is directly linked to the people I read about the other day, who had driven all over Ohio buying up every bottle of hand sanitizer hoping to make a big windfall selling it for obscene prices on amazon.

[LDAHL]

Why do you keep asking?? After the last Super Tuesday you were quick to post the same question. I know hope springs eternal for you. I saw a FB meme posted by one of my conservative high school acquaintances that had a picture of people grasping for TP and it said "Now how do you like socialism?" Ridiculous. So ill-informed, yet there go those perceptions that being a democratic socialist is one step from those old fear-mongering images of Russian communist scarcity.

If anything, this virus points out the need for more reasonable measures that ensure better protection.

Yeah, Bernie will probably abandon his campaign, but he has succeeded in elevating the national dialogue in terms of the shortcomings of our current healthcare system and the need for better support for minimuml wage workers and other people strained by some of our country's economic policies.

I keep asking because he is such an interesting case. A non-Democrat fighting hard to gain power using the Democratic Party as a vehicle. A millionaire socialist, doing his utmost to revive the class resentments of the 1930s. A professional politician claiming outsider status. A man who can’t help but praise Cuba’s claimed accomplishments in literacy or medicine without reference to the summary executions and establishment of a ruling dynasty. An old, old man whose primary allegiance seem to be among middle class and upper class youth.

The contradictions are legion; perhaps the biggest of which may be the damage he does to the future implementation of his ideas by creating division within his own party and reminding the country at large of socialism’s prior tragic failures.

[catherine]

The contradictions are legion; perhaps the biggest of which may be the damage he does to the future implementation of his ideas by creating division within his own party and reminding the country at large of socialism’s prior tragic failures.

I LOVE contradictions. They make life fascinating. You make a good point--maybe that's why I love Bernie.
(One of my favorite books that survived The Purge was Living with Contradiction by Esther de Wall: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Contra...0819217549--as a Catholic, it might interest you.)

As for socialism.. socialism is a broad term. You can have failures (Cuba, Venezuela) and you can have successes (Scandinavia). Sanders' difficulty was/is explaining what American Democratic socialism would look like. If it wound up looking in America like a bigger version of the city he led, Burlington, it would be a success. The younger people get it. They are not hog-tied to past perceptions. They are more open to a world where the few don't benefit at the expense of the many. They realize "Trickle-down economics" only trickles down so far. They feel that uncoupling health insurance from employer benefits is good for the employer and the employee. They feel that justice still needs to be better served in large swaths of our citizenry.

Bernie has survived the generation gap and the status quo and has gone very far in both 2016 and 2020 campaigns to point out that as great as we are, we can still do better. So, I think in way, he's won.

[JaneV2.0]

I LOVE contradictions. They make life fascinating. You make a good point--maybe that's why I love Bernie.
(One of my favorite books that survived The Purge was Living with Contradiction by Esther de Wall: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Contra...0819217549--as a Catholic, it might interest you.)

As for socialism.. socialism is a broad term. You can have failures (Cuba, Venezuela) and you can have successes (Scandinavia). Sanders' difficulty was/is explaining what American Democratic socialism would look like. If it wound up looking in America like a bigger version of the city he led, Burlington, it would be a success. The younger people get it. They are not hog-tied to past perceptions. They are more open to a world where the few don't benefit at the expense of the many. They realize "Trickle-down economics" only trickles down so far. They feel that uncoupling health insurance from employer benefits is good for the employer and the employee. Justice is still not served in large swaths of our citizenry.

Bernie has survived the generation gap and the status quo and has gone very far in both campaigns to point out that as great as we are, we can still do better.

I doubt Cuba would have been such a failure if we hadn't relentlessly sanctioned them over everything possible. We treated them like the scourge of the universe instead of the minor player they were.

In my opinion, Democratic socialism combines the best of two systems into one that works for everyone. Unlike our current kakistocracy.

[jp1]

In my opinion, Democratic socialism combines the best of two systems into one that works for everyone. Unlike our current kakistocracy.

I’d always considered our system to be more of a kleptocracy. But I think you’re right. After the last election we have certainly added in a large element of kakistocracy.

[JaneV2.0]

I’d always considered our system to be more of a kleptocracy. But I think you’re right. After the last election we have certainly added in a large element of kakistocracy.

Yeah, I debated whether to use kleptocracy, but decided we had devolved.

[Teacher Terry]

The 2 brothers that bought up a ton of hand sanitizer and put it in a storage unit had amazon shut them down and contacted authorities. The police came and took it while thanking them for the donation)

[LDAHL]

The police came and took it while thanking them for the donation)

That part of the story is untrue.

[Teacher Terry]

Well then someone put a fake video of the incident then.

[LDAHL]

Well then someone put a fake video of the incident then.

The New York Times said he donated most of it to a Church after getting a raft of death threats.