But then, what does he know? I have it on good authority that Sanders isn't really a Socialist at all. In fact, what he proposes has nothing to do with Socialism. In fact, there aren't that many Socialist countries in the world after all. More to the point, I'm not sure there was ever such a thing as Socialism. This doubt is not coming from Sanders, by the way. Sander mistakenly thinks he's a Socialist, and many of his liberal Democratic supporters are thrilled because of it. No, the doubt is coming from Conservatives and Catholics who are enthusiastically embracing Sanders, all the while reminding me and others that he is no Socialist because, in the end, can anyone really say what Socialism is for sure? Apparently Kasparov can. But then, what does he know?
The problem with millennials is that so many of them where born after the cold war was over. They think that the Western Europe that they see today is result of socialist parties. What they don't know is that the Europe they see today is the result of 60 years of compromises between social democrats and christian democrats and the willingness of the US to pay for everybody's defense. Many of them are too damn ignorant to know that the goal of Sanders isn't Sweden but turning the US into the USSR. Worst of all is that they refuse to be taught.
ReplyDeleteI fear that for some millennials, the idea that Sanders could want a Soviet dreamland is exactly the thing that is appealing. Remember, the growing narrative is that the Cold War was a conflict between the brave, albeit at times harsh, Soviets versus the brutal and wicked United State Military Industrial Complex. I saw a show about the development of nuclear weapons (PBS or National Geographic – can’t remember). And it was clear. Stalin was certainly bad, but that was it. Once he was gone, the Soviets fought for decades against the imperialist, militaristic United States. Only Gorbachev saved the day.
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