This was written by Alex, one of our summer interns. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.
A spectre is haunting America – the spectre of socialism. All the powers of old America have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: businessman and politician, Trump and Pelosi, Democrat and Republican.
The face of this spectre, of course, is Bernie Sanders, who catapulted to prominence in 2016 when he ran for president explicitly declaring himself a democratic socialist. Liberals had before been smeared as socialists by various conservatives, most prominently (and laughably) Barack Obama. You can look back, and find various articles on why Obama was or wasn’t a secret Stalinist. But Sanders has long embraced the label, having joined the socialist Liberty Union Party in 1971. He has since left the party and is currently unaffiliated. Sanders gives as examples countries such as Norway for examples of his brand of democratic socialism, pointing to their higher average happiness and quality of life. There’s just one problem here – Norway isn’t socialist.
Norway’s welfare institutions come from an ideology called social democracy, one that has its roots in socialism, but is distinctly different. Socialism aims to fully end private ownership of the means of production, whether that be through state ownership for the common good, collective ownership, or something else. This can then be used to distribute goods and services in a much more egalitarian manner. Social democracy shares the goal of egalitarian livelihoods, but it differs from socialism by aiming to do this within the framework of capitalism through things such as welfare programs. Socialists oppose this, as they believe the mechanisms of capitalism will thwart any such attempt to create equality. Many left wing parties in Europe hold to social democracy, and closer to home, the left wing of the Democratic Party is arguably social democratic, with figures such as Elizabeth Warren arguing for widespread welfare policies.
But what of Bernie Sanders? He calls himself a democratic socialist, but his policies are much more in line with social democracy. He calls for things such as universal health care and worker cooperatives, but falls short of demanding an alternative to private ownership of the tools, systems, and resources used to produce goods and services, or, as Marx summed it up, seizing the means of production. He calls for democracy, in every part of life possible. And while economic democracy is certainly appealing to socialists, and would be part of a system that retained money, workers having a larger stake in their companies is still fully compatible with capitalism, and retains most problems socialists have with capitalism.
If we look back at his past, the answer to our question is that Sanders is most definitely a socialist. Running to be the Governor of Vermont with the socialist Liberty Union Party in the 70s, Sanders called for “public ownership of the means of production and their conversion into worker-controlled enterprises.” Nobody could look at that, or his wider candidacy press release, and deny that this is a socialist speaking. However, Sanders left the Liberty Union Party. He says that it was because the party only existed for elections, but Peter Diamondstone, the de facto leader of the party who worked with Sanders when he was in it, claims that it was because he no longer ideologically aligned with the party.
More recently, in the 2016 debates, an old interview turned up of Bernie Sanders on Nicaragua and Cuba, where he praises the advancements that Cuba has made in health care and education, and argues against US intervention in those states. Opponents quickly zeroed in on his comments on Cuba, and claimed that Bernie Sanders was a Castro supporter. This clip being over 30 years old, it doesn’t tell us much about what he thinks today, but his response to it being brought up does. Sanders doubled down on his non-interventionism, added direct criticism of Cuba’s political system, but also maintained his stance that Cuba has done well with healthcare, an opinion that is very much based in fact.
So, what’s the verdict? Is Sanders an opponent of the bourgeoisie, a warrior for the working man, or is he looking to just build a thick, sturdy safety net? This is a question that can’t be answered definitively by anyone but Bernie himself – after all, none of us can see into his mind. However, given his constant support for figures like Eugene V. Debs, and his praise (even extremely limited) of Marxist-Leninist countries, something most Social Democrats won’t touch with a ten foot pole, I personally suspect there might be something more radical in him. He’d definitely govern as a social democrat – whether or not he is further left, the current political climate already sees him as being a fringe left figure, and anything further would destroy his political capital. But that can change. And if the political climate became more open to radical ideas, perhaps President Sanders would be glad to work with them, and perhaps provide some himself.
