Bernie Sanders is the hero Democrats need

[n2doc]

While many in the media are obsessing over Bernie's "socialism," they're missing the bigger picture
by CONOR LYNCH


In a recent Salon article, Harry Jaffe, author of the brand new biography, “Why Bernie Sanders Matters,” attempts to clarify the the Vermont senator’s frequently contested ideology. Depending on who you ask, Sanders is either a socialist, a democratic socialist, a social democrat, or, as Jaffe argues, a plain old Democrat.

(Of course, some on the right, like Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, believe he is a “diehard communist.”)

“Bernie Sanders is not a socialist,” writes Jaffe. “No way, no how. He’s not even a democratic socialist, as it is practiced in the Scandinavian nations…Sanders is a Democrat in every way but the name. Running in Vermont, Sanders had to distinguish himself from Democrats to establish his own brand. But once he got to Congress in 1990, he voted with the Dems, nearly 100 percent of the time.”

It is fair enough to call Sanders a Democrat, but one must make an important distinction between neoliberal Democrats, like Bill Clinton, and New Deal Democrats, like Franklin Roosevelt. Sanders obviously falls into the latter category, and thus has been considered fringe for most of his career (just as FDR would have been towards the end of the 20th century). Of course, it’s true that Sanders has voted with Democrats the majority of the time, but this is probably not the best way to measure Sanders’ ideology, as there are only two major political parties in the United States, and he would certainly not be voting for bills that the Republican Party, which has become increasingly extremist over the years, supports.

Perhaps the best way to gauge Sanders ideology would be to look at bills that he has recently sponsored (the majority of which have not made it past committees). Consider the “Worker Ownership, Readiness and Knowledge (WORK) Act,” which he introduced in 2012. This legislation would “establish within the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor an Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative to promote employee ownership and employee participation in business decision making.” In other words, it was designed to increase worker ownership and promote economic democracy within market, which is a democratic socialist ideal.

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http://www.salon.com/2016/01/19/bernie_sanders_is_the_hero_democrats_need_look_past_the_socialist_label_see_him_for_what_he_really_is/

[99th_Monkey]

1. I loves me some Worker-Ownership

I studied that in graduate school and did my thesis on it. During my internship to get a
Or. State Senate bill also "designed to increase worker ownership and promote economic
democracy within market" within the State of Oregon.

Woot! on your OP. GO Bernie!!!!!

[WillyT]

2. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!