Revisiting Bernie's 'Democratic Socialism' speech, ten years later |
Revisiting Bernie’s ‘Democratic Socialism’ speech, ten years later
Before 2015, the term “democratic socialism” was foreign to the American political lexicon. It was certainly not cool among the chattering class, to say nothing of the politically powerless.
Then, something happened that thrust democratic socialism into the national limelight, where it has remained ever since.
Bernie Sanders, the septuagenarian independent U.S. senator from Vermont, almost won the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination, running under the banner of democratic socialism.
In late 2015, Sanders was gaining grassroots traction and media attention as a presidential candidate when he delivered a speech at Georgetown University titled, “An Address on Democratic Socialism in America.”
In it, Sanders laid out the democratic socialism’s modern platform: Medicare-for-all, free college, free childcare, free maternity leave and “government does everything it can to create a full-employment economy.”
Sanders emphasized that, “democratic socialism … does not allow the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuel industry to destroy our environment and our planet. And it means to me that we have a moral responsibility to combat climate change and leave this planet healthy and habitable for our kids and our grandchildren.”
He chastised the wealthy. “Democratic socialism means that, in a democratic, civilized society, the wealthiest people and the largest corporations must pay their fair share of taxes.”
And, strangely enough, he declared that under democratic socialism, “everyone in this country who is 18 years of age or older is registered to vote, end of discussion.”
We all know what happened next. The following year, Democrats denied Sanders the presidential nomination in favor of Hillary Clinton. It was democratic socialist déjà vu in 2020, when multiple........