For the Epsteinth Time - a Democratic Socialist is not a Communist!

[Celerity]

17. No they are not. We (I live in Sweden) in the Nordics have social democracy, not democrat socialism. None of the nations

you listed are democratic socialist.

We social democracy-manifesting Nordics all have very robust, vibrant, AND also highly regulated capitalist economies that work synergistically with expansive social welfare state sectors to provide some of the highest standards of living on the planet.

I have been trying to point this out almost since I joined here in summer 2018.

What socialism is — according to Bernie Sanders

https://bigthink.com/the-present/what-is-socialism-bernie-sanders/

snip

He goes a bit into the particulars of policy and explained that his conception of socialism would require — this is what it would look like — universal health care, total employment, free college education, more public spending, a living wage, environmental regulations, and a robust democratic culture to come into existence. He flatly denied any interest in nationalization, telling the audience:

“So the next time you hear me attacked as a socialist, remember this: I don’t believe government should own the means of production, but I do believe that the middle class and the working families who produce the wealth of America deserve a fair deal.“

The contents of this speech were very similar to other statements he has made about socialism across his entire political career. The entire speech could have been summed up neatly in a quote he gave to the Associated Press back in 1997:

“To me, socialism doesn’t mean state ownership of everything, by any means, it means creating a nation, and a world, in which all human beings have a decent standard of living.”

snip

WAIT A MOMENT, PRAISE FOR THE NEW DEAL? NO INTEREST IN NATIONALIZATION? THAT DEFINITION SOUNDS A LOT LIKE CAPITALISM!

snip

Bernie’s explanation of “socialism” is, in fact, closer to what political philosophers refer to as “social democracy.” This is a capitalist system, since the means of production are still privately owned, where the state heavily regulates the economy and has an active welfare system in place to correct for the worst problems inherent to capitalism like inequality, cyclic instability, or the profit motive encouraging people to do things against the public interest.