Why I do not fear Bernie Sanders
I have been hearing a lot on social media in recent days about Bernie Sanders and how his being a "democratic socialist" means he cannot become President.
I am a Democrat and will be voting for one of the Democratic candidates in the Washington state primary. I haven't decided who I will vote for yet this year. But what I want to address here is the idea that being a socialist is somehow not allowed, or is even something to be afraid of.
The first point I would make is that democratic socialism is not the same as communism. Numerous countries are democratic socialist, including Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and many others. If a nation creates new social programs through democratic means, that is democracy, not dictatorship.
Yet we are told that Americans are not allowed to be socialists either. But then what are we allowed to be? Capitalists? Hardly.
A capitalist is someone whose sole job is to acquire capital. For me, that means someone who owns a business with employees, or who owns property that rents to tenants. Hiring family members, or renting to family members, doesn't count. In other words, you make all your money from a stranger's labor or a stranger's rent. Put another way, all your income streams come from the work of other people, not your own work.
Another criteria is having the power to make a person homeless or unemployed by an arbitrary decision over your business or property, with no legal recourse for the affected person.
I do not have such power and never have. I owned several businesses in the past, but I never had paid employees who depended on me for their livelihood. And while I owned real estate, the only people who lived on those properties were members of my extended family. Being a business owner or property owner did not make me a capitalist, by this definition. Only a small percentage of people can ever hope to be capitalists, looking at it this way.
If we cannot be capitalists, what can we be? If we are honest, most of us are workers. I am an engineer who trades my time and expertise for money. I save some of that money for retirement. But if I stop working too soon, I am unemployed, lose health coverage, and will soon become homeless. That is my social reality.
Yet as an American, even as a Democrat, I am expected to be a supporter of capitalism, meaning the system that enables the capitalists to concentrate wealth and power far beyond what I will ever have, so they can live comfortably without having to work. That is a different social reality. Why do capitalists put such an expectation on workers, who are not part of their economic class, and most of whom never will be? Is it reasonable to demand that a stranger identify with people with whom they have so little in common?
I have far more in common with other working people. But what is socialism if not identifying with other workers? What is it if not seeing other workers as people with whom we have something in common?
Considering all of that, the idea that Bernie Sanders is someone I should be afraid of seems a bit odd. Why should I be afraid of someone who sees himself as having something in common with me, and who offers solutions that are designed to benefit me as a worker?
Conversely, I have less in common with Mike Bloomberg. As a billionaire businessman, he will have to work hard to convince me that he has something in common with workers. I appreciate that he came from a middle class family, and built his own business from the ground up. But so far he hasn't emphasized that part of his life. He has emphasized his wealth, and that what differentiates him as a candidate is his experience running a large business. Meaning generating income for himself from the work of others. I appreciate that he is donating much of his wealth, and I agree with the causes he is supporting with his philanthropy. That shows humanity.
But being able to donate a billion dollars is a different social reality than the one I live in. I have to live in mine.
I am a Democrat and will be voting for one of the Democratic candidates in the Washington state primary. I haven't decided who I will vote for yet this year. But what I want to address here is the idea that being a socialist is somehow not allowed, or is even something to be afraid of.
The first point I would make is that democratic socialism is not the same as communism. Numerous countries are democratic socialist, including Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and many others. If a nation creates new social programs through democratic means, that is democracy, not dictatorship.
Yet we are told that Americans are not allowed to be socialists either. But then what are we allowed to be? Capitalists? Hardly.
A capitalist is someone whose sole job is to acquire capital. For me, that means someone who owns a business with employees, or who owns property that rents to tenants. Hiring family members, or renting to family members, doesn't count. In other words, you make all your money from a stranger's labor or a stranger's rent. Put another way, all your income streams come from the work of other people, not your own work.
Another criteria is having the power to make a person homeless or unemployed by an arbitrary decision over your business or property, with no legal recourse for the affected person.
I do not have such power and never have. I owned several businesses in the past, but I never had paid employees who depended on me for their livelihood. And while I owned real estate, the only people who lived on those properties were members of my extended family. Being a business owner or property owner did not make me a capitalist, by this definition. Only a small percentage of people can ever hope to be capitalists, looking at it this way.
If we cannot be capitalists, what can we be? If we are honest, most of us are workers. I am an engineer who trades my time and expertise for money. I save some of that money for retirement. But if I stop working too soon, I am unemployed, lose health coverage, and will soon become homeless. That is my social reality.
Yet as an American, even as a Democrat, I am expected to be a supporter of capitalism, meaning the system that enables the capitalists to concentrate wealth and power far beyond what I will ever have, so they can live comfortably without having to work. That is a different social reality. Why do capitalists put such an expectation on workers, who are not part of their economic class, and most of whom never will be? Is it reasonable to demand that a stranger identify with people with whom they have so little in common?
I have far more in common with other working people. But what is socialism if not identifying with other workers? What is it if not seeing other workers as people with whom we have something in common?
Considering all of that, the idea that Bernie Sanders is someone I should be afraid of seems a bit odd. Why should I be afraid of someone who sees himself as having something in common with me, and who offers solutions that are designed to benefit me as a worker?
Conversely, I have less in common with Mike Bloomberg. As a billionaire businessman, he will have to work hard to convince me that he has something in common with workers. I appreciate that he came from a middle class family, and built his own business from the ground up. But so far he hasn't emphasized that part of his life. He has emphasized his wealth, and that what differentiates him as a candidate is his experience running a large business. Meaning generating income for himself from the work of others. I appreciate that he is donating much of his wealth, and I agree with the causes he is supporting with his philanthropy. That shows humanity.
But being able to donate a billion dollars is a different social reality than the one I live in. I have to live in mine.
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