ICYMI:
“When Donald Trump was a
private business man in New York, he got millions of dollars in tax breaks and
subsidies to build luxury housing. That’s called
corporate socialism.“ –Bernie Sanders, 60-Minutes (02/23/20)
-Medicare for all (which, btw, probably won’t happen. Best case scenario, a building on the ACA. And if no Congress to back him, won’t happen at all; just pie-in-the-sky.)
-Tuition
free higher education (best case scenario, it will be cheaper)
-Free
childcare (best case scenario, some kind of voucher system to offset the costs)
-Taking
on corporate greed (pharmaceuticals, health insurance companies, jails for
profits, etc. You can expect all of these
groups to go kicking and screaming into that dark, profitless night.)
These
are some of the highlights of what Sanders advocates for, along with, as a potential
Sanders supporter, my personal opinions about them.
* * *
Now
let’s play the whataboutism game.
What
about America’s “corporate socialism”:
-Bank
and other corporate bailouts
-Farm subsidies and tariff offsets
-Tax
loopholes -Farm subsidies and tariff offsets
-Zero dollars paid in federal taxes companies
Like it or not, these are four examples of “corporate socialism.”
Correct
me if I’m wrong, but this leads me to wonder, why is one brand of “government
socialism” okay, yet Sander’s brand of “democratic socialism” not okay? Hold that thought.
Granted,
we have many socialized programs already in play (Medicare for seniors,
Medicaid and other safety nets for those at the poverty level, HUD, etc.). We also have many, and I mean MANY, social
institutions that operate on government budget tax allocations: Teachers,
libraries, fire depts., police depts., civil service jobs, etc., all looking
out for the betterment of the greater society.
Even the FBI, CIA, and the bloated Military Industrial Complex operate under
budgets provided by the government, via our taxes. A
society cannot function very well, indeed is destined to fail, without these basic-type
socially-oriented programs. These social institutions keep our greater society
afloat and competitive on the world stage.
Isn’t it time for America to rethink that scary word “socialism” that corporate America has, in the name of obscene profits, indoctrinated us to fear? Seems to me (and Bernie) that our “just socialism for the rich” is another version of corporate America's dreaded “just socialism for the poor.”
Your Challenge: Defend “socialism for the rich.”
Thanks for
posting and recommending.