I would think that at least once in the first dozen times I say
something I would be paid attention to. However, it looks like it is
time for me to repeat myself again. Again! Again! Again! I do not
require that anyone be in any kind of agreement with "my" party to be a
socialist. I do not require that someone be in any party to be a
socialist! The definition of socialism - if you insist, "my" definition
of socialism - is very broad. It includes political tendencies that I am
in extreme disagreement with. Again, it requires only that one be in
favor of an end to the private ownership of the means of production and
its replacement with public ownership and control of the means of
production. AT the very least it requires that. If you do not favor that
then you are not a socialist and if you claim to be a socialist you are
making a false claim. Again, even with such a broad definition as that
it still means something. If you allow a word to mean everything it
means nothing. Remember when I was expressing a distaste for using the
word awesome for every piddling thing that came along? I said that the
problem with that is that when something comes along that really is
awesome then you have nothing to call it. If you call it awesome then
you will only be communicating mild approval instead of what you really
want to express. The same thing applies to the word socialism. When you
call those who advocate capitalism socialists then what do you call it
when you want to discuss a real socialist? Now, I suppose that by
tomorrow what I have just said will be completely ignored again and I
will be told again that socialism means the same thing as awesome or the
same thing as what Ted Cruz advocates. When Sanders said that he was not
as much of a socialist as Dwight Eisenhower that shows no understanding
of the word either. I am sorry, though, ?Eisenhower was not a socialist
and Bernard Sanders is not a socialist. Read some history! Look in a
dictionary! Words have to mean something or there is no reason to have
words!
On 11/20/2015 5:05 PM, S. Kashdan wrote:
Roger,
I am sure you know that there are and have been several different socialist
parties. Eugene Debbs was not a socialist in the same sense as your party
would define it, and his party was not your party.
Different groups and parties also define democracy differently.
For justice and peace,
Sylvie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 12:54 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: vBernie Sanders' 12 Best Reasons for Being a
Democratic Socialist
Roger, I knew you were going to have a reaction to this. He is not being
dishonest. He is defining "social democracy" as he understands it. His
definition is different from your's. Language is very fluid. The word,
"liberal", has very bad connotations both for the Right and for the Left.
He's talking about reinstating a social welfare state, but a more inclusive
one than we had under FDR.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 2:54 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: vBernie Sanders' 12 Best Reasons for Being a
Democratic Socialist
He would be a lot more honest if he just called himself a liberal.
On 11/20/2015 11:52 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I heard the first part of his speech last night and it was rivetingnot in the video I heard.
enough so that I didn't go to sleep when I should have. I think that
what kept me listening was my sense that he really means what he says
and that the things he says about today's economic situation, are not
being said by any other public figure. The part about foreign policy was
Miriam60, 70 hours a week.
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org) Home > Bernie Sanders'
12 Best Reasons for Being a Democratic Socialist
________________________________________
Bernie Sanders' 12 Best Reasons for Being a Democratic Socialist By
Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2] November 19, 2015 In a highly
anticipated speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders passionately detailed what
being a democratic socialist means to him and would mean for Americans
if elected president.
After listing many metrics showing Americans today are working harder
than ever yet facing undue pressures to pay for necessities like
housing, healthcare, higher education and retirement, Sanders said
democratic socialism means reviving the wisdom and policies behind
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Lyndon Johnson's Great
Society and Rev. Martin Luther King's call for economic justice.
"Real freedom must include economic security," Sanders said, quoting
FDR's
1944 speech calling for a second Bill of Rights for economic justice.
"That was Roosevelt's vision 70 years ago. It is my vision today. It
is a vision that we have not yet achieved. And it is time that we did."
"People are not free," he continued. "They are not truly free when
they are unable to feed their family. They are not truly free when
they are unable to retire with dignity. They are not truly free when
they are unemployed, underemployed or when they are exhausted by working
People are not truly free when they don't know how they are going totheir children, their sick and their poor."
get medical help, when they or a family member are sick."
"So let me define for you, simply and straightforwardly, what
democratic socialism means to me," Sanders said. "It builds on what
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said when he fought for guaranteed economic
rights for all Americans. And it builds on what Martin Luther King,
Jr. said in 1968 when he stated that, 'This country has socialism for
the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor.' My view of
democratic socialism builds on the success of many other countries
around the world, who have done a far better job than we have in
protecting the needs of their working families, their elderly citizens,
Sanders repeatedly reminded the Georgetown University audience thathis 100-minute speech.
there was an epidemic of childhood poverty and other unmet needs
across America, while the richest Americans are accumulating
unprecedented wealth. He said the solutions could be funded by
wealthly individuals and corporations paying a fair share of taxes.
What follows are a dozen excerpts from Sanders' speech of what
democratic socialism means to him and could mean for the country. It
is a vision of a better world that starts with improving the economics
and the dignity of Americans at home, which in turn Sanders said would
better position America to face challenges from abroad, such as the
terrorist threat posed by ISIS, which he addressed in the final quarter of
1. Major political and economic reforms. "Democratic socialism meansdo..
that we must reform a political system which is corrupt, that we must
create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.
Democratic socialism, to my mind, speaks to a system, which for
example during the 1990s-and I want you to hear this-allowed Wall
Street to spend $5 billion, over a 10-year period, in lobbying and
campaign contributions in order to get deregulated. They wanted the
government off of their backs. They wanted to do whatever they wanted to
"Then, 10 years later, after the greed, recklessness, and illegaljail.
behavior led to their collapse, what our system enabled them to get
bailed out by the United States government, which through Congress and
the Fed, provided trillions of dollars in aid to Wall Street. In other
words, Wall Street used their wealth and power to get Congress to do
their bidding for deregulation, and then when Wall Street collapsed,
they used their wealth and power to get bailed out. Quite a system!
"And then, to add insult to injury, we were told that not only were
the banks too big to fail, we were told that the bankers were too big to
And this is the system. Young people who get caught possessingidea. It is a conservative idea.
marijuana, they get police records-and many many hundreds of thousands
have police records that have impacted their lives in serious ways. On
the other hand, Wall Street CEOs who help destroy the economy, they
don't get police records, they get raises in their salaries. And this
is what Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he talked about socialism
for the rich and rugged individualism for everyone else."
2. An end to corporate welfare. "It is time that we had democratic
socialism for working families, not just for Wall Street billionaires.
It means that we should not be providing welfare for corporations. It
means that we should not be providing huge tax breaks for the
wealthiest people in this country or trade policies, which boost
corporate profits while they result in workers losing their jobs. It
means that we create a government which works for all of the American
people, not just powerful special interests. It means that economic
rights must be an essential part of what America stands for."
3. A national public healthcare system. "It means that health care
should be a right of all people, not a privilege. I know that there
are some people out there who think this is just an incredibly radical
idea-imagine, in the United States of America, all of us, having
health care as a right. But I hope all of you know this is not a radical
It is an idea and a practice that exists in every other major countryprescription drugs."
on earth.
"Not just in Scandanavia-in Denmark, in Sweden, in Finland or Norway.
It exists in Canada-I live 50 miles away from Canada; not a radical
idea. It exists in France, Germany, Taiwan. All over the world,
countries have made the determination that all of their people are
entitled to health care, and I believe the time is long overdue for
the United States to join the rest of the world. And by the way, what
a Medicare-for-all system will bring about is ending the absurdity of
the American people paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for
4. Tuition-free public colleges and universities. "Now, when I talkNew York, were virtually tuition-free."
about democratic socialism, what that means to me, is that in the year
2015, a college degree today is equivalent to what a high school
degree was 50 years ago. And what that means is that public education
must today allow every person in this country, who has the ability,
the qualifications and the desire, the right to go to a public college
or university tuition-free. Is this a radical socialistic idea? I
don't think so. It exists today in many countries all over the world.
You know what, it used to exist in the United States of America. Great
universities, like the University of California, the City University of
5. A government that creates jobs, not prisoners. "Democraticincarceration."
socialism means that our government does everything it can to create a
full employment economy. It makes far more sense to me to put millions
of people back to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, than
to have a real unemployment rate of almost 10 percent. It is far
smarter to invest in jobs and educational opportunities for young
people who are unemployed, than to lock them up and invest in jails and
6. A living minimum wage and real family leave. "Democratic socialismleast three months of paid family and medical leave."
means that if someone works 40 hours a week, that person should not be
living in poverty; that we must raise the minimum wage to a living
wage-$15 bucks an hour over the next several years. It means that we
join the rest of the world and pass the very strong Paid Family and
Medical Leave legislation now sitting in Congress.
"I want you to think about this, and I want you to really see what
goes on in our country today. It's not only that every other major
country-I'm not talking about Europe or Scandanavia-virtually every
country in the world, poor countries, small countries, reach the
conclusion that when a woman has a baby she should not be forced to be
separated from that newborn baby after a week or two and have to go
back to work. Making sure that moms and dads can stay home and get to
love their babies is a family value that we should support. And that
is why I want, and will fight, to end the absurdity of the United
States being one of the only countries on Earth that does not guarantee at
7. Stopping climate change-causing industries. "Democratic socialismsupport.
to me means that we have government policy, strong government policy,
which does not allow the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuel
industry to destroy our environment and our planet. And it means to me
that we have a moral responsibility to combat climate change and leave
this planet healthy and inhabitable for our kids and grandchildren."
8. The wealthy must pay a fair share of taxes. "Democratic socialism
means that in a democratic, civilized society the wealthiest people
and the largest corporations must pay their fair share of taxes. Yes,
innovation, entrepreneurship and business success should be rewarded.
But greed for the sake of greed is not something that public policy should
"It is not acceptable to me that in the period of time, the last twoquote.
years,
15 of the wealthiest people in this country-15 people-saw their wealth
increase, in this rigged economy, by $170 billion. Got it? Two years.
Fifteen people, $170 billion increase in their wealth. That is more
wealth than is owned by the bottom 130 million Americans. Let us not
forget what Pope Francis has so elegantly stated and I quote: 'We have
created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a
new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of
an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.' End of
"In other words, we've got to do better than that. It's not aworking-class people have given up on the political process entirely.
political issue. It's not an economic issue. It's a cultural issue. We
have got to stop worshipping people who make billions and billions and
billions of dollars, while we have the highest rate of childhood
poverty of any major country."
9. America's political system must be a democracy. "Democratic
socialism, to me, does not just mean that we must create a nation of
economic and social justice and environmental sanity. Of course, it
does mean that. But it also means that we must create a vibrant
democracy based on the principle of one person, one vote. It is
extremely sad-and I hope all of you will pay a lot of attention to
this issue-it is extremely sad that the United States, one of the
oldest, most stable democracies in the world, has one of the lowest
voter turnouts of any major country, and that millions of young people and
"In the last midterm election, just a year ago, 63 percent of theolder is registered to vote: end of discussion."
American people didn't vote, 80 percent of young people did not vote.
Clearly, despite the efforts of many Republican governors, who want to
suppress the vote, to make it harder for people of color and old
people to participate in the political system, our job together is to
make it easier for people to vote, not harder to vote. It is not a
radical idea-and I will fight for this as hard as I can as
president-to say that everyone in this country who is 18 years of age or
10. Democratic socialism is not a government takeover. "The next timeshould go up, not down.
that you hear me attacked as a socialist-like tomorrow-remember this:
I don't believe government should take over the grocery store down the
street, or own the means of production. But I do believe that the
middle class and the working families, who produce the wealth of this
country, deserve a decent standard of living, and that their incomes
"I do believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow inentire regions.
America, companies that create jobs here, rather than companies that
are shutting down in America and increasing their profits by
exploiting low-wage labor abroad. I believe that most Americans can
pay lower taxes-if hedge fund managers who make billions manipulating
the marketplace finally start paying the taxes that they should."
11. Equal treatment by government, not racism. "I don't believe in
special treatment for the top 1 percent, but I do believe in equal
treatment for African Americans who are right to proclaim the moral
principle that black lives matter. I despise appeals to nativism and
prejudice, a lot of which we have been hearing in recent months. And I
do proudly believe in immigration reform that gives Hispanics and
others a pathway to citizenship and a better life.
"And while I am on that subject, let me say a real word of concern to
what I have been hearing from some of the Republican candidates for
president in recent months. People can have honest disagreements about
immigration or about anything else. That's called democracy. But
people should not be using the political process to inject racism into
the debate. And if Donald Trump and others refer to Latinos, people
from Mexico, as criminals and rapists, if they want to open that door,
our job is to shut that door and shut it tight."
12. Do not become cynical; work for change. "Do not, do not, do not
become cynical. I am running for president in order for all of us to
be able to live in a nation of hope and opportunity, not for some, but
for my seven grandchilden, and for all of you.
"Nobody understood better than Franklin Delano Roosevelt the
connection between American strength at home and our ability to defend
America around the world. And that is why he proposed a second Bill of
Rights in 1944, and said in that very same State of the Union, and I
quote again, 'America's own rightful place in the world depends in
large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried
into practice for all our citizens. For unless there is security here
at home there cannot be lasting peace-lasting peace-in the world.'"
Foreign Policy and the Use of Force
The final section of Sanders' speech concerned foreign policy and
whether the U.S. should use military force abroad. Sanders said, "I am
not running for president to pursue reckless adventures abroad, but to
rebuild America's strength at home. I will never hesitate to defend
this nation, but I will never send our sons and daughters to war under
false pretense, or pretenses about dubious battles with no end in sight."
Sanders said George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and war of choice was
one of many examples where a foreign policy decision led to serious
unanticipated consequences that unfolded over many years and destabilized
In that context, he said ISIS must be defeated by military and otherrole for America.
policies, but, "we cannot, and should not, do it alone." He said that
could only happen when other Muslim countries in the region,
especially wealthy nations like Saudi Arabia, became more involved and
see this as a fight for "the soul of Islam," which is not an appropriate
"While the U.S. and other western nations have the strength of ourU.S.
militaries and political systems, the fight against ISIS is a struggle
for the soul of Islam, and countering violent extremism and destroying
ISIS must be done primarily by Muslim nations-with the strong support
of their global partners," Sanders said.
Unlike any of the other 2016 presidential candidates, Sanders said the
must learn from past mistakes and not repeat them-such as usingin Iran in 1953: Mossadegh was the president.
military force or intelligence agency coups for short-term political
gains that backfire in the long run.
"Our response must begin with an understanding of past mistakes and
missteps in our previous approaches to foreign policy," he said. "It
begins with the acknowledgment that unilateral military action should
be a last resort, not a first resort, and that ill-conceived military
decisions, such as the invasion of Iraq, can wreak far-reaching
devastation and destabilization over regions for decades. It begins
with the reflection that the failed policy decisions of the
past-rushing to war, regime change in Iraq or toppling Mohammed Mossadegh
The CIA and others got rid of him, to protect British petroleum interests.continued.
The Shah of Iran came in, a brutal dictator, and he was thrown out by
the Islamic revolution, and that is where we are in Iran today.
"Decisions have consequences, often unintended consequences," he
"So whether it was Saddam Hussein, or Mossadegh, or Guatemalanlearn."
president Árbenz in 1954, Brazilian president Goulart in 1964, Chilean
president Allende in 1973-this type of regime change. This type of
overthrowing governments we may not like, often does not work, often
makes a bad and difficult decision even worse. These are lessons we must
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet,Citizen's Guide to Voting"
including America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights,
and campaigns and elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A
(AlterNet Books, 2008).60, 70 hours a week.
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emocratic-socialist
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http://www.alternet.org/ [5] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org) Home > Bernie Sanders'
12 Best Reasons for Being a Democratic Socialist
Bernie Sanders' 12 Best Reasons for Being a Democratic Socialist By
Steven Rosenfeld [1] / AlterNet [2] November 19, 2015 In a highly
anticipated speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders passionately detailed what
being a democratic socialist means to him and would mean for Americans
if elected president.
After listing many metrics showing Americans today are working harder
than ever yet facing undue pressures to pay for necessities like
housing, healthcare, higher education and retirement, Sanders said
democratic socialism means reviving the wisdom and policies behind
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Lyndon Johnson's Great
Society and Rev. Martin Luther King's call for economic justice.
"Real freedom must include economic security," Sanders said, quoting
FDR's
1944 speech calling for a second Bill of Rights for economic justice.
"That was Roosevelt's vision 70 years ago. It is my vision today. It
is a vision that we have not yet achieved. And it is time that we did."
"People are not free," he continued. "They are not truly free when
they are unable to feed their family. They are not truly free when
they are unable to retire with dignity. They are not truly free when
they are unemployed, underemployed or when they are exhausted by working
People are not truly free when they don't know how they are going totheir children, their sick and their poor."
get medical help, when they or a family member are sick."
"So let me define for you, simply and straightforwardly, what
democratic socialism means to me," Sanders said. "It builds on what
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said when he fought for guaranteed economic
rights for all Americans. And it builds on what Martin Luther King,
Jr. said in 1968 when he stated that, 'This country has socialism for
the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor.' My view of
democratic socialism builds on the success of many other countries
around the world, who have done a far better job than we have in
protecting the needs of their working families, their elderly citizens,
Sanders repeatedly reminded the Georgetown University audience thathis 100-minute speech.
there was an epidemic of childhood poverty and other unmet needs
across America, while the richest Americans are accumulating
unprecedented wealth. He said the solutions could be funded by
wealthly individuals and corporations paying a fair share of taxes.
What follows are a dozen excerpts from Sanders' speech of what
democratic socialism means to him and could mean for the country. It
is a vision of a better world that starts with improving the economics
and the dignity of Americans at home, which in turn Sanders said would
better position America to face challenges from abroad, such as the
terrorist threat posed by ISIS, which he addressed in the final quarter of
1. Major political and economic reforms. "Democratic socialism meansdo..
that we must reform a political system which is corrupt, that we must
create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.
Democratic socialism, to my mind, speaks to a system, which for
example during the 1990s-and I want you to hear this-allowed Wall
Street to spend $5 billion, over a 10-year period, in lobbying and
campaign contributions in order to get deregulated. They wanted the
government off of their backs. They wanted to do whatever they wanted to
"Then, 10 years later, after the greed, recklessness, and illegaljail.
behavior led to their collapse, what our system enabled them to get
bailed out by the United States government, which through Congress and
the Fed, provided trillions of dollars in aid to Wall Street. In other
words, Wall Street used their wealth and power to get Congress to do
their bidding for deregulation, and then when Wall Street collapsed,
they used their wealth and power to get bailed out. Quite a system!
"And then, to add insult to injury, we were told that not only were
the banks too big to fail, we were told that the bankers were too big to
And this is the system. Young people who get caught possessingidea. It is a conservative idea.
marijuana, they get police records-and many many hundreds of thousands
have police records that have impacted their lives in serious ways. On
the other hand, Wall Street CEOs who help destroy the economy, they
don't get police records, they get raises in their salaries. And this
is what Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he talked about socialism
for the rich and rugged individualism for everyone else."
2. An end to corporate welfare. "It is time that we had democratic
socialism for working families, not just for Wall Street billionaires.
It means that we should not be providing welfare for corporations. It
means that we should not be providing huge tax breaks for the
wealthiest people in this country or trade policies, which boost
corporate profits while they result in workers losing their jobs. It
means that we create a government which works for all of the American
people, not just powerful special interests. It means that economic
rights must be an essential part of what America stands for."
3. A national public healthcare system. "It means that health care
should be a right of all people, not a privilege. I know that there
are some people out there who think this is just an incredibly radical
idea-imagine, in the United States of America, all of us, having
health care as a right. But I hope all of you know this is not a radical
It is an idea and a practice that exists in every other major countryprescription drugs."
on earth.
"Not just in Scandanavia-in Denmark, in Sweden, in Finland or Norway.
It exists in Canada-I live 50 miles away from Canada; not a radical
idea. It exists in France, Germany, Taiwan. All over the world,
countries have made the determination that all of their people are
entitled to health care, and I believe the time is long overdue for
the United States to join the rest of the world. And by the way, what
a Medicare-for-all system will bring about is ending the absurdity of
the American people paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for
4. Tuition-free public colleges and universities. "Now, when I talkNew York, were virtually tuition-free."
about democratic socialism, what that means to me, is that in the year
2015, a college degree today is equivalent to what a high school
degree was 50 years ago. And what that means is that public education
must today allow every person in this country, who has the ability,
the qualifications and the desire, the right to go to a public college
or university tuition-free. Is this a radical socialistic idea? I
don't think so. It exists today in many countries all over the world.
You know what, it used to exist in the United States of America. Great
universities, like the University of California, the City University of
5. A government that creates jobs, not prisoners. "Democraticincarceration."
socialism means that our government does everything it can to create a
full employment economy. It makes far more sense to me to put millions
of people back to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, than
to have a real unemployment rate of almost 10 percent. It is far
smarter to invest in jobs and educational opportunities for young
people who are unemployed, than to lock them up and invest in jails and
6. A living minimum wage and real family leave. "Democratic socialismleast three months of paid family and medical leave."
means that if someone works 40 hours a week, that person should not be
living in poverty; that we must raise the minimum wage to a living
wage-$15 bucks an hour over the next several years. It means that we
join the rest of the world and pass the very strong Paid Family and
Medical Leave legislation now sitting in Congress.
"I want you to think about this, and I want you to really see what
goes on in our country today. It's not only that every other major
country-I'm not talking about Europe or Scandanavia-virtually every
country in the world, poor countries, small countries, reach the
conclusion that when a woman has a baby she should not be forced to be
separated from that newborn baby after a week or two and have to go
back to work. Making sure that moms and dads can stay home and get to
love their babies is a family value that we should support. And that
is why I want, and will fight, to end the absurdity of the United
States being one of the only countries on Earth that does not guarantee at
7. Stopping climate change-causing industries. "Democratic socialismsupport.
to me means that we have government policy, strong government policy,
which does not allow the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuel
industry to destroy our environment and our planet. And it means to me
that we have a moral responsibility to combat climate change and leave
this planet healthy and inhabitable for our kids and grandchildren."
8. The wealthy must pay a fair share of taxes. "Democratic socialism
means that in a democratic, civilized society the wealthiest people
and the largest corporations must pay their fair share of taxes. Yes,
innovation, entrepreneurship and business success should be rewarded.
But greed for the sake of greed is not something that public policy should
"It is not acceptable to me that in the period of time, the last twoquote.
years,
15 of the wealthiest people in this country-15 people-saw their wealth
increase, in this rigged economy, by $170 billion. Got it? Two years.
Fifteen people, $170 billion increase in their wealth. That is more
wealth than is owned by the bottom 130 million Americans. Let us not
forget what Pope Francis has so elegantly stated and I quote: 'We have
created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a
new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of
an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.' End of
"In other words, we've got to do better than that. It's not aworking-class people have given up on the political process entirely.
political issue. It's not an economic issue. It's a cultural issue. We
have got to stop worshipping people who make billions and billions and
billions of dollars, while we have the highest rate of childhood
poverty of any major country."
9. America's political system must be a democracy. "Democratic
socialism, to me, does not just mean that we must create a nation of
economic and social justice and environmental sanity. Of course, it
does mean that. But it also means that we must create a vibrant
democracy based on the principle of one person, one vote. It is
extremely sad-and I hope all of you will pay a lot of attention to
this issue-it is extremely sad that the United States, one of the
oldest, most stable democracies in the world, has one of the lowest
voter turnouts of any major country, and that millions of young people and
"In the last midterm election, just a year ago, 63 percent of theolder is registered to vote: end of discussion."
American people didn't vote, 80 percent of young people did not vote.
Clearly, despite the efforts of many Republican governors, who want to
suppress the vote, to make it harder for people of color and old
people to participate in the political system, our job together is to
make it easier for people to vote, not harder to vote. It is not a
radical idea-and I will fight for this as hard as I can as
president-to say that everyone in this country who is 18 years of age or
10. Democratic socialism is not a government takeover. "The next timeshould go up, not down.
that you hear me attacked as a socialist-like tomorrow-remember this:
I don't believe government should take over the grocery store down the
street, or own the means of production. But I do believe that the
middle class and the working families, who produce the wealth of this
country, deserve a decent standard of living, and that their incomes
"I do believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow inentire regions.
America, companies that create jobs here, rather than companies that
are shutting down in America and increasing their profits by
exploiting low-wage labor abroad. I believe that most Americans can
pay lower taxes-if hedge fund managers who make billions manipulating
the marketplace finally start paying the taxes that they should."
11. Equal treatment by government, not racism. "I don't believe in
special treatment for the top 1 percent, but I do believe in equal
treatment for African Americans who are right to proclaim the moral
principle that black lives matter. I despise appeals to nativism and
prejudice, a lot of which we have been hearing in recent months. And I
do proudly believe in immigration reform that gives Hispanics and
others a pathway to citizenship and a better life.
"And while I am on that subject, let me say a real word of concern to
what I have been hearing from some of the Republican candidates for
president in recent months. People can have honest disagreements about
immigration or about anything else. That's called democracy. But
people should not be using the political process to inject racism into
the debate. And if Donald Trump and others refer to Latinos, people
from Mexico, as criminals and rapists, if they want to open that door,
our job is to shut that door and shut it tight."
12. Do not become cynical; work for change. "Do not, do not, do not
become cynical. I am running for president in order for all of us to
be able to live in a nation of hope and opportunity, not for some, but
for my seven grandchilden, and for all of you.
"Nobody understood better than Franklin Delano Roosevelt the
connection between American strength at home and our ability to defend
America around the world. And that is why he proposed a second Bill of
Rights in 1944, and said in that very same State of the Union, and I
quote again, 'America's own rightful place in the world depends in
large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried
into practice for all our citizens. For unless there is security here
at home there cannot be lasting peace-lasting peace-in the world.'"
Foreign Policy and the Use of Force
The final section of Sanders' speech concerned foreign policy and
whether the U.S. should use military force abroad. Sanders said, "I am
not running for president to pursue reckless adventures abroad, but to
rebuild America's strength at home. I will never hesitate to defend
this nation, but I will never send our sons and daughters to war under
false pretense, or pretenses about dubious battles with no end in sight."
Sanders said George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq and war of choice was
one of many examples where a foreign policy decision led to serious
unanticipated consequences that unfolded over many years and destabilized
In that context, he said ISIS must be defeated by military and otherrole for America.
policies, but, "we cannot, and should not, do it alone." He said that
could only happen when other Muslim countries in the region,
especially wealthy nations like Saudi Arabia, became more involved and
see this as a fight for "the soul of Islam," which is not an appropriate
"While the U.S. and other western nations have the strength of ourU.S.
militaries and political systems, the fight against ISIS is a struggle
for the soul of Islam, and countering violent extremism and destroying
ISIS must be done primarily by Muslim nations-with the strong support
of their global partners," Sanders said.
Unlike any of the other 2016 presidential candidates, Sanders said the
must learn from past mistakes and not repeat them-such as usingin Iran in 1953: Mossadegh was the president.
military force or intelligence agency coups for short-term political
gains that backfire in the long run.
"Our response must begin with an understanding of past mistakes and
missteps in our previous approaches to foreign policy," he said. "It
begins with the acknowledgment that unilateral military action should
be a last resort, not a first resort, and that ill-conceived military
decisions, such as the invasion of Iraq, can wreak far-reaching
devastation and destabilization over regions for decades. It begins
with the reflection that the failed policy decisions of the
past-rushing to war, regime change in Iraq or toppling Mohammed Mossadegh
The CIA and others got rid of him, to protect British petroleum interests.continued.
The Shah of Iran came in, a brutal dictator, and he was thrown out by
the Islamic revolution, and that is where we are in Iran today.
"Decisions have consequences, often unintended consequences," he
"So whether it was Saddam Hussein, or Mossadegh, or Guatemalanlearn."
president Árbenz in 1954, Brazilian president Goulart in 1964, Chilean
president Allende in 1973-this type of regime change. This type of
overthrowing governments we may not like, often does not work, often
makes a bad and difficult decision even worse. These are lessons we must
Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet,Citizen's Guide to Voting"
including America's retirement crisis, democracy and voting rights,
and campaigns and elections. He is the author of "Count My Vote: A
(AlterNet Books, 2008).
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emocratic-socialist
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[2] http://alternet.org
[3] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Bernie
Sanders' 12 Best Reasons for Being a Democratic Socialist [4]
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