“The strongest argument for socialism is that it sounds good. The strongest argument against socialism is that it doesn’t work. But those who live by words will always have a soft spot in their hearts for socialism because it sounds so good.” Thomas Sowell

Despite winning the 2020 Nevada Democratic Caucuses by a wide margin, most Americans fail to appreciate that Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is not a liberal Democrat or a registered member of the Democratic Party. He is a registered Independent and an unapologetic self-professed Democratic Socialist.

However, as a Senator, he caucuses and aligns himself with the Democrat minority on the floor of the U.S. Senate. And, in the 2020 Presidential primaries, he campaigns and runs as a Democrat in his grassroots attempt to win the party’s nomination.

Additionally, billionaire Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, during a debate stage attack, stated that Senator Bernie Sanders is, “the best known Socialist in America”, and is a multi-millionaire who owns three houses (one in Washington, D.C. and two in Vermont).

According to Roger Altman, Evercore Founder and Senior Chairman, he conveyed on CNBC recently conveyed that under Bernie’s proposed socialist policies:

1. If you have an employer provided health insurance plan, you’ll lose it.
2. If you want to decriminalize the southern border, so if individuals are crossing the border illegally, they’ll get the equivalent of a traffic ticket.
3. If you believe like Bernie that everyone in prison should have the right to vote, then he is your man.
4. In the important battleground state of Florida, the philosophy of socialism carries very negative connotations and distasteful visceral reminders to many in the Cuban-American, Venezuelan, and Puerto Rican communities within the state.

Only something like ten percent of Americans believe in those Sanders positions. Maybe magic will happen. Record of prediction is unblemished with success.

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill

World history demonstrates that global Democratic Socialists in the Western Hemisphere have often abandoned the “Democratic” part of their byline and replaced it with authoritarian actions like in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Although, this is believed highly unlikely with the many safeguards guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

If elected, Americans should not be surprised when a potentially future President Sanders attempts to steer the country down the path of the failed programs and policies common within socialism. But, socialism has been successful in bringing “shared economic misery” to the citizens of countries like Cube, Venezuela and the former Soviet Union and East Germany.

References:

1. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/bernie-sanders.html
2. Roger Altman, Evercore Founder and Senior Chairman, CNBC Squawk on the Street