So, what’s the difference between democratic socialism and communism?
Usually, five to 10 years.
Seriously, though, this question comes up a lot in the age of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Many younger people seem to think democratic socialism means all the liberty and prosperity we enjoy today, plus a bunch of free stuff. Indoctrinated young people are led to believe that the only changes in their lives under socialism would be the addition of free college, free health care, lots of public housing, guaranteed pensions, and generous welfare programs. Sweden, Germany, and Norway are the oft-cited examples of the benefits of a welfare state.
Small government advocates will retort that the amount of taxation and regulation required to maintain this kind of system will stifle innovation and entrepreneurialism, strangle growth and job creation, and drive most of us into poverty—Venezuela is the current fashionable example.
The term “democratic socialism” is often used interchangeably with socialism. The purists, though, will condescendingly explain that the qualifier “democratic” distinguishes democratic socialism from the admittedly tyrannical Marxist–Leninist variety of socialism, popularly known as communism.
Some on the left, especially those from America’s largest Marxist organization, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), will tell you that this will never happen on their watch. We’ll stay “democratic”—they say—all major decisions will come to a vote. We’ll introduce widespread “workplace democracy.” They will point to the stability of Scandinavian countries for their evidence of a model welfare state. “We’ll never let the United States turn into Venezuela, or Cuba, or Bulgaria, or Hungary, or the Soviet Union, or the People’s Republic of China, or the Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany), or the Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea),” they assure us.
Read the full story from NoisyRoom.net
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