If Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump win their respective party's nominations for president, then American voters may be facing the choice between what would in effect be Trump's "national socialism" and Bernie Sanders' avowed "democratic socialism."
If you remember your world history, you know that in Germany in the 1930s Hitler rose to power with his National Socialist Worker's Party (Nazi). And he was telling the German people much the same thing as Mr. Trump is now telling the American people. Back then Germany was in the midst of the Great Depression which hit the German economy even harder than it did the U.S. economy. The Germans were having to pay reparations for the destruction caused in the First World War and there was a common feeling among the populace that Germany was being taken advantage of by wealthier nations such as France, England and the United States.
Enter Hitler, who played on the fears and resentments of the German people while painting a picture of coming German greatness. Hitler used the democratic process to take over and soon afterwards eliminated democracy in Germany by creating a crisis where he demanded ultimate power in order to regain control. At the same time he began to quietly rebuild the military and air force by circumventing the restrictions that had been placed on Germany at the treaty of Versailles. Hitler talked tough and promised to make Germany great again. And for a time he seemed to be successful, but his megalomania drove the German train off its rails.
My fear at the present time is that we have another bully who makes big promises and talks tough, but most of the time he doesn't say how he is going to do what he promises. For instance, Trump can make a strong statement to the effect that he knows much more about the Middle East than the generals who are fighting the war on terror. He doesn't offer any evidence to prove it. He constantly makes brash assertions and claims that fly in the face of the facts. The only reason he is given credence is because Americans are fed up with seven years of retreat on the world stage. Not to mention many years of watching helplessly as good-paying jobs are shipped overseas to make products that are then shipped back here for sale. The money and the jobs have been flowing out of America at an alarming rate while average pay here in the states has stagnated at best. It is interesting to note that over 50 percent of American workers are making $30,000.00 or less per year.
This brings us to Mr. Sanders who lays claim to the disaffected Americans who are shut out of the American Dream by the rich right here in America. Sanders points out that the top 1 percent of Americans own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent. I have to admit that this is a problem. Not to mention all the student debt that is carried by young folks who find it very challenging to land a good-paying job after graduation. The Sanders campaign is all about rectifying the real and perceived income inequalities in our country. He would do this by fundamentally changing America from a capitalist economy to a socialist economy. Socialist dogma teaches "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." So the playing field gets leveled, but if you look at socialist countries you can see it usually gets levelled at a fairly low rate. In the Scandinavian countries which Sanders holds up as models, most of a person's earnings go to taxes. And in those countries the government takes care of you from cradle to grave. It would seem that the young people of our own country are more than intrigued by such an offer.
So there is much discontent in the country and we have the two leading candidates from each party making promises to remedy the situation. The one plays on our resentments and fears of the rich, while the other plays on our resentments and fears of foreigners. But it is important to note that both men have the same vision for how to deal with rising healthcare costs -- both would guarantee coverage to everyone. Also, Trump has supported the government's buyout of GM and other government interventions (the stimulus and bank bailouts) into the free market.
I fear, that with Trump's personality, he would take executive action to the next level. I mean, can you see him waiting for Congress to act? Why any true patriot would support a man who is so obviously self-centered, ego-maniacal and thin-skinned is beyond me.
Or why any true patriot would support a man (Sanders) who advocates government ownership of American industry is surprising. One of the reasons America is an exceptional nation is the fact that we encourage individual initiative and resourcefulness. Are we prepared to see the end of free enterprise as we know it?
If it ends up being a choice between these two men, it won't be a question of choosing socialism, but of which flavor of socialism we choose. We may be choosing between a kinder, gentler, Father-knows-best social democrat, or an in-your-face, vulgar, pseudo-Republican strongman. For this election cycle, it is the voter's choice. After this election we may not get another chance to choose since the die may be cast.
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 02/17/2016