Friday, March 18, 2016

Russian chess master Garry Kasparov’s harsh critiques of Bernie Sanders and socialism

Perestroika Political Cartoon

Washington Post

. . . "When Bernie Sanders supporters hear the word "socialism," they think about higher taxes for the rich, campaign finance reform and a single-payer health-care system rivaling those found in Scandinavia.
"When Garry Kasparov, the legendary chess grandmaster from Russia, hears the same word, a very different thought comes to his mind.
" 'Socialism sounds great in speech soundbites and on Facebook, but please keep it there," he wrote in a Facebook post that went viral. "In practice, it corrodes not only the economy but the human spirit itself, and the ambition and achievement that made modern capitalism possible and brought billions of people out of poverty. Talking about Socialism is a huge luxury, a luxury that was paid for by the successes of capitalism.' " . . .
An environmental activist, Thomas DeSoto reacted strongly to this knowledgeable challenge to his presuppositions with this blast at the former Soviet native:  
"Gary Kasparov proves mindless and blind to the social issues of our times, like most conservative narcissistic self-serving fools who regress to a neanderthal thinking monster as they get older. "
Mr. Desoto brands Kasparov "conservative" to cancel out his credibility, rather than see him as a product of the communist, socialistic society that the former Soviet chess hero has rejected. 
Whom do we believe: Desoto, who is raised by liberal liberal academia, or Kasparov, who has lived in socialism his entire life? 
As with many, many urban American kids who see sports as their only way out of the ghetto, so Russian youth knew their economy offered no way up. Chess was one of the few ways to get ahead. TD

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