Can Bernie Keep Socialism Alive?
"Before Bernie Sanders was the hot challenger to Hillary Clinton, before he was even an oddball Vermont congressman from Brooklyn, the proud socialist made a documentary film—and a long-playing record—about Eugene Victor Debs.
"The 20th century’s most renowned American socialist, Debs has long been a hero to leftists and radicals of many persuasions. Numerous children were named after him; so were a radio station, a town in Minnesota and a couple of beers. In Sanders’ quaint, low-budget 1979 documentary, Eugene V. Debs—issued by the now-defunct American People’s Historical Society of 295½ Maple Street in Burlington—Debs is given the full Howard Zinn
treatment, depicted as a fighter on behalf of exploited workers, a fearless critic of ruthless corporate power and a martyr to free speech." . . .
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. . . "In the end, the most radical ideas espoused by Debs and his fellow socialists—the abolition of capitalism and its replacement with a planned economy—never came to pass. But more targeted reforms they advocated proved popular and became national policy. It’s here that we find one final answer to the “Why no socialism?” question: While our two-party system has rarely made room for long-lasting third parties, it has proven flexible enough to incorporate those parties’ best ideas. Reforms such as ending child labor, making taxation progressive and funding public works were championed by socialists but quickly came to be understood as liberal ones."
"Sanders outlines his plans to deal with “income and wealth inequality” on his website. The 13 points would stagger your imagination, but here are a few of the points:" . . .
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