Posted on 03/15/2020 4:47:36 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
I’m glad this was posted.
Democratic Socialism is still Socialism. Eventually it morphs into communism.
That could be, but Sweden was never really socialist. It was a country with private property, private enterprise and a lot of welfare programs. So it wasn't in danger of going communist, because people owned property and didn't want to lose it.
Sanders doesn't know what he's talking about. "Democratic socialism" is a very slippery concept for him. One day it's Sweden or France. The next day it's Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela.
When he was younger the talk was of "worker management" in Yugoslavia. I don't know if there really was such a thing, but Yugoslavia - when it was still around - wasn't a democracy under Tito.
Well old Bernie does have a point about Communist countries being good places to live. Why else would West Germany have had to build a wall to keep all the citizens in its half of Berlin from fleeing to the Communist East? Oh wait, I got that backwards, didnt I?
Well still, you see all those people in Florida building makeshift rafts and risking their lives trying to escape to Cuba. Surely Cuba must be a wonderful paradise if people are risking their lives trying to get there, right? Darn! Backwards again!
Im almost starting to think that people actually living under Communism dont think its such a great system. Old Bernie couldnt possibly be wrong though, could he?
Research has suggested that the Northern European success story has its roots in cultural rather than economic factors.
IIRC the conversation between Alan Greenspan and the Swedish finance minister went something like this:
Swede: In Sweden, we have a very low poverty rate.
Greenspan: In America, among Swedes, we have a lower poverty rate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.