I agree 100% that Sanders is not Hitler, and speaking as a conservative who understands where they are going with these arguments, this is mainly intended as a rib. No one believes Sanders is Hitler, or even Mussolini. But it is actually absurd to combine nationalism with socialism, and fair to call out such absurdity as national socialism. It’s not like liberals never rib Republicans in similar ways for their nonsensical policies. The word “Taliban” has often been thrown at us.
Of course, Sanders isn’t really a socialist, he’s actually right-wing compared to European Labor parties. He should just drop the label and admit that he’s just an old style New Deal Democrat.
It doesn’t HAVE to be, but it’s fair to ask, are all people deserving of social and economic justice, or do Americans come first, even if that means we intentionally disadvantage poor foreigners? Like I said, you can be socialist and also be an American Firster, but it’s kinda a selfish socialism. Capitalism doesn’t have this moral dilemma, because although capitalism is better when it’s international, it’s morality is irrelevant to the philosophy except to the extent that it’s consistent with freedom and liberty.
I get that, but sometimes you have to choose your priorities. Some US trade policies protect jobs here but seriously disadvantage poor people abroad trying to get ahead. That’s not a matter of short term vs. long term, it’s about things we can do now to help lift Third World people out of poverty. We’ve seen a billion lifted out of poverty in the last 15 years, but a lot of people on the left in this country don’t like the policies that got us there. I don’t think socialists can claim moral authority while wanting to dismantle the very policies that led to such a huge decrease in world poverty.
I’m not suggesting going straight for utopian socialism. I don’t expect even Bernie Sanders to be so pure as to want everything now lest I call him a hypocrite. I don’t expect him to support nationalization of industry. He wants to make life better for the poor and middle class in this country. But it’s not exactly a controversial position to also want to make life better for people abroad. Sanders’ policies would actually significantly worsen world poverty in order to make us just a little bit better off. It is quite fair to call that national socialism. It’s a big middle finger to the world’s poor and emerging middle classes.
I was also impressed with how Sanders handled them. But I’m sure you also see why that’s a problem for him with some of the voters he needs to win.
Sanders is focused like a laser beam on economic justice. That’s good, that’s a major concern of Americans to the point where even Republicans have to talk about it now. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people I know who usually vote Republican who are receptive to Bernie Sanders in a way they will never be to Hillary Clinton. He’s honest, cares about regular folks, and him not being a Democrat is actually an advantage with that group. But while almost all people of color care about economic justice, the reality of their daily lives revolves around their racial identity and how others treat them. As one protesters said, free college and ACA won’t protect him from police violence.