# Sanders is not really a socialist **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 8, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888 "2019-09-08T17:54:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/21 "2019-09-09T19:46:32Z")
Capitalist and capitalist means capitalist and Koch-brothers level sociopathic scum. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/22 "2019-09-09T22:41:08Z")
People are calling Sanders both Democratic Socialist and a Social Democrat in this thread. They are two different things. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/23 "2019-09-09T23:11:44Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > That point is entirely undercut when Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist. If you don’t want him tagged with the label socialist, you need to start with him, not his Republican opponents. Well, he’s been calling himself “socialist” for his whole public career, and I suspect he’s too old to change. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/24 "2019-09-09T23:37:45Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > People are calling Sanders both Democratic Socialist and a Social Democrat in this thread. They are two different things. From Wikipedia: The difference between the two is that modern social democrats support practical reforms to capitalism as an end in itself whereas democratic socialists ultimately want to go beyond social democratic reforms and advocate systemic transformation of the economy from capitalism to socialism. He sounds like a Social Democrat to me. I wish he hadn’t labeled himself as a socialist and just laid out his policies but someone would’ve called him a socialist anyway, so I guess it’s good that he’s owning it and trying to explain what he means by it. Awhile back in one of his speeches he said we already have socialism for the rich, when we did the bailouts for the banks in 2008. He wants the government to care about the rest of us, the 99%. I’ve already heard Mitch McConnell say the US can’t afford to pay for “entitlements” like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and social safety nets like food stamps, CHIP, etc. This is the Socialism Bernie is fighting for. In countries like Finland, Norway and Sweden they have government paid health care for all, free college tuition, and no one going bankrupt over medical debt. [Interesting article - Bernie Sanders Is Right — We’re All ‘Socialists’ Now - The Art of the New Deal](http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/bernie-sanders-socialism-speech-gwu.html) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/25 "2019-09-10T12:49:05Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > From Wikipedia: The difference between the two is that modern social democrats support practical reforms to capitalism as an end in itself whereas democratic socialists ultimately want to go beyond social democratic reforms and advocate systemic transformation of the economy from capitalism to socialism. > > He sounds like a Social Democrat to me. Which, again, is why his branding doesn’t make sense. He is a democratic socialist who isn’t a socialist, isn’t a Democrat, and isn’t a democratic socialist. Unless he does want to go beyond and transform the economy into socialism (presumably democratically). Then he would be a socialist, like he says he is, and all this would make sense. I see no reason not to take him at his word. He is a democratic socialist. He wants to use the democratic process to change the economy to socialism. I can understand why his followers would be afraid to own this, but he doesn’t seem to be. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/26 "2019-09-11T05:13:35Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I see no reason not to take him at his word. He is a democratic socialist. He wants to use the democratic process to change the economy to socialism. I’ve read his platform. He does not propose nationalizing the means of production. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/27 "2019-09-11T16:37:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I see no reason not to take him at his word. He is a democratic socialist. He wants to use the democratic process to change the economy to socialism. And George W. Bush was a compassionate conservative, which means he wanted to maintain the status quo using hugs. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888/28 "2019-09-11T17:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.’ _:shrugs:_ Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-is-not-really-a-socialist/839888.md?page=1)