Without a doubt, “socialism” is a taboo word among the American people. Its political connotation resonates from a time when paranoia and fear were so widespread in this nation that in one instance the American government resorted to placing hundreds of liberal Hollywood artists on a blacklist simply due to their alleged — and often unfounded — ties to the radical left. And, to make matters worse, many of these innocent citizens were legitimately tried in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee. To this day, socialism and radical leftism are often equated with qualities of being “un-American,” as pundits and politicians alike associate the term with sentiments of anti-capitalism and anti-freedom, a mere baby step to the right from the dreaded “communism.”
Regardless of the word’s ugly and divisive past, the concept of socialism has risen to the forefront of the American conversation in recent months primarily due to the impending 2016 presidential election and the candidacy of one incendiary Independent senator from the state of Vermont: Bernie Sanders. The mainstream media loves to refer to Sanders as a “self-proclaimed socialist,” from U.S. News to Salon to the South China Morning Post. Yet, while Sanders is indeed a politician who leans significantly left on a wide variety of issues, media sources — through their fervor surrounding the idea of socialism — have painted a wildly hyperbolic picture of the presidential candidate.
In fact, “hyperbolic” may be too light of a term for the press the Sanders campaign has incurred in the past few months. One of the more ridiculous examples of this media fervor comes from an article published recently by the Freedom Outpost. The article heavily denounces Sanders’ ties to the radical left by using Webster’s Dictionary definitions of “communism” and “socialism” along with excerpts from Sanders’ Wikipedia page to label the candidate’s beliefs as an “enslavement of the people” and a “type of anti-American rhetoric” that has “no place in a real free nation.”
The charged sentiments expressed in both the Freedom Outpost’s article and in countless others are shocking, yet they all contain one common theme: a deep-seated fear of populism — a certain paranoia that equates Sanders’ popularity with a parting of ways between the American public and the idea of “American freedom.” Yet, when one analyzes the actual tenets of the Sanders campaign, one fact rings true: Bernie Sanders is not an anti-American socialist.
Sanders has consistently proclaimed through his long tenure as a politician that his “socialist” ideology extends little beyond a sentiment of empathy for the rapidly disappearing middle class and an acute disdain for corruption and power-mongering among the nation’s financial elite. In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Sanders listed a litany of issues that prove his brand of democratic socialism outlines “an economy that works for ordinary Americans,” including government support for quality education, childcare and livable wages, as well as greater regulation on corruptible financial industries and a mandate for large corporations and wealthy citizens to pay their “fair share” in taxes.
Sanders’ vision for a nation governed by democratic socialism is — at its core — an expression of a desire for every American citizen to have the right to live a fulfilling and comfortable life, regardless of his circumstance. The Sanders campaign recognizes money interests play a regrettably large role in the governing of the United States, as billionaires like the Koch Brothers can practically buy elections in exchange for favors from elected officials, and a dollar in someone’s pocket has more leverage than his human critical capacity. The Sanders campaign sees the glaringly obvious truth that the United States’ “progressive” tax system is in fact almost perfectly flat in practice, with the top 1 percent earning 21 percent of the nation’s income yet hardly footing the bill by paying only 22 percent in taxes. The Sanders campaign understands that providing all of the nation’s citizens with an opportunity for an affordable, quality education is one of the greatest and most important gifts it could possibly give.
Most of all, the Sanders campaign wants ordinary Americans to feel respected and appreciated under the eyes of the law, as Sanders believes a responsible first-world country has a mandate to treat all of its citizens fairly. Sanders often points to Europe when he makes this point; countless Europeans have accepted — and even embraced — the concept of democratic socialism as a legitimate way of running a government while ensuring citizens’ freedoms, and the financial elite of these nations have easily adopted the role of contributing a greater percentage of their wealth toward the happiness of the general public.
So, if democratic socialism is indeed the way to ensure civil liberties and perpetuate the idea of equality in a first world nation, then maybe it is time to take the stigma away from that word in the United States — even if it makes Joseph McCarthy turn in his grave.
Ryan Gorman is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at r.gorman@cavalierdaily.com.
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