Fan mail, and Democratic Socialism.

    "Well, the Pope caught the coronavirus. That's one commie down, with many to go. Let's hope some of the democratic candidates catch the flu, along with Peter Sage. The coronavirus is God's way of stopping communism."

         Anonymous comment to this blog

This blog gets some comments like that.

The comment above drew a response from Andy Seles, a southern Oregon area political activist. 

Andy has been a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders. He taught high school and college English in New England, moved to southern Oregon in 2008, and became active locally in progressive, environmental politics. In what I will re-use as a Guest Post below, Seles explained the distinctions between "Communism," "Socialism," and "Democratic Socialism."  Sanders refers to himself as a Democratic Socialist.

FDR

Seles explains that in Democratic Socialism business corporations exist by permission of the people as a whole, and like government itself, derive their just powers by the consent of the people. Markets exist for the benefit of people; people don't exist for the benefit of markets. 

It is a shame that Seles even needs to try to explain Democratic Socialism. If you have to explain, you are already deep in the hole. Alas, Sanders' labeling and political philosophy need explaining.

Most Americans of my generation may think they understand socialism, but they have negative Cold War associations with it that complicates how they think of it in the abstract. The Soviet Union oppressed its own people and it oppressed the people of Eastern Europe. The word "Socialist" was in their name, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Sanders' self labeling hurts Sanders, especially with older voters.

Does Sanders want to make a academic point to rehabilitate a word in the political vocabulary of 1960's leftist politics, or does he want to be elected president?

If Sanders actually wants to be understood as an FDR New Deal Democrat, brought up to date for 21st Century America, I wish he would just say so and call himself a "Modern FDR." And if asked what that meant, he might say "FDR advocated for some things that corporations didn't want to do on their own, like build Hoover Dam, deliver electricity to rural America, establish bank deposit insurance, and establish a pay-as-you-go pension program known as Social Security. Plus he liked unions and taxed wealthy people more, so we could pay for those public services. Plus colleges were affordable. Now in the 21st Century we should go the next step and make health care available by tax money instead of insurance premiums."

Something like that.

Seles

Seles does this blog--and Bernie Sanders--a service, explaining that Sanders is not a communist, nor a USSR-style socialist. I have not heard Sanders say it this way, but I do not consider Sanders to be attempting to make the USA more like the USSR or even Denmark. He is attempting to make America more like America, a country whose government and businesses are of the people, by the people, and for the people.

But for better or worse Sanders does express his views in terms of class warfare, not unity of the whole people. Last night in Virginia Sanders spoke to an enthusiastic crowd. His movement, he said, was "of the working class, by the working class, and for the working class."

Guest Post by Andy Seles

A comment to this blog:

Communism: "a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs."

Socialism: "a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole."

Democratic Socialism: "Democratic socialism is a political philosophy supporting political democracy within a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on workers' self-management and democratic control of economic institutions within a market socialist economy or some form of a de-centralised planned socialist economy."

So, basically democratic socialism means that We the People take precedence over the market and corporations which are supposed to contribute to the public good not exploit the many for the benefit of the few. That is why, at the beginning of our Republic, corporations had to PROVE to legislatures (every five years or so) the ways in which they benefited the public.

That's a pretty big leap in logic you take there, Mr. Anonymous! Personally, I try not to wish bad luck on those with whom I disagree (having been raised as a Christian). But anger can bring out the worst in us to say things we don't really mean. I hope you feel better soon; I mean that sincerely.  

Andy