Sanders’ socialism not right for America

By: Brennan Kohls

Two candidates hold the majority of points on the Democrat side of the presidential campaign currently, Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State whose campaign is plagued with scandals, and Bernie Sanders, the self proclaimed “democratic socialist.”

Socialism and communism are two names for one thing, the main difference being that communism is a form of both a political and an economic system, whereas socialism is just an economic system. They both end on the same page, destroying wealth and success. The main goal of communism is make everyone equal, and the way the government accomplishes its goal of equality is that everyone is poor under it. They take everyone’s hard earned money and redistribute it. In communism there is no such thing as private property. The government owns the market; they own your house; they own everything. The USSR’s economy collapsed under communism, and we’ve recently seen communist China attempting to copy our form of capitalism.

Socialism is when the government owns all means of production, and it provides you with college, healthcare and other services at the taxpayer’s expense. The government steals the wealth from hard working people and redistributes it to everyone. Socialists feel that they are entitled to everyone else’s hard earned money. It is the economic system of envy. The main goal of socialism, just like communism, is complete, total equality, no classes, no private property and no incentive for success. The socialist mindset is, “If I can’t afford something, then the government should give it to me.” A commonly used lure by socialists is “free college” and “free healthcare.” If the government says it’s going to give you something for free, it never means free. The government is funded by taxpayers like you and I, so nothing you receive from the government is free. Socialism is the government reaching into your pockets and giving your hard earned money to someone else.

To make his followers believe in his socialist ideology, Sanders calls it “democratic socialism.” Sanders tries to convince everyone that by adding “democratic” to the front of socialism, it somehow makes it remarkably better, and the shocking thing is that his followers believe him. All Sanders is doing is putting lipstick on a pig.  “Democratic” socialism is socialism and socialism is communism. It just changes names as soon as everyone figures out how bad the current communist system is.

The main evidence advocating for socialism that Sanders uses is the example of Scandinavia. He always brings up the “free” college and healthcare. In Denmark, the median income tax in 2014 according to the Danish Central Tax Administration was a whopping 55.6 percent. Out of every $100 you make, $55 is taken out, leaving you with only $45 of your hard-earned money. Margaret Thatcher once said, “Socialism works, until you run out of other people’s money.”

After Scandinavia, Sanders brings up Canada’s “free” health care as an example. According to a study from the Fraser Institute in 2011, the average wait time for treatment with a medical specialist takes 9.5 weeks. What happens if you are in dire need of an appointment with a doctor in Canada? Too bad. Wait your turn because, remember, everyone is equal in socialism. The average wait time to see a neurosurgeon is 17.4 weeks. The wait time actually costs Canada almost $1 billion in lost productivity every year, on top of the $2.7 trillion collective medical bill. As with almost anything the government sticks its nose in, the results  slow down massively and become snagged in the bureaucracy that is government. Imagine the DOT, only the doctors office version.

Recently we’ve seen socialism destroy Greece. The Greek government has been spending rampantly on bailouts and their welfare system. According to GSIS, Greece, the income tax in Greece is 46 percent, and on top of that, a 42 percent social security tax is added, making the final tax rate coming out to be 88 percent. Along with that, there is a 23 percent sales tax, and yet Greece is still tremendously in debt. They tax the citizens outrageously because of the out of control government spending. The European Union has given billions of dollars to Greece, trying to get them out of their hole, but with no success because they are constantly spending on the socialist policies.

Sanders’ plans include “free” college, “free” healthcare, attempting to create higher paying jobs while forcing the minimum wage up and 12 weeks of paid family and medical time off. Economists have estimated that these policies will cost almost $18 trillion on top of the $18 trillion we already owe. This debt will be forced on the future generations of Americans. Our children, and their kids, will be forced to pay this off for decades if these socialist ideas are ever implemented.

To make his supporters believe in his socialist ideas, Sanders calls it “democratic socialism.” We all know he means regular communist-based socialism. We’ve seen communism and socialism fail, time and time again in Greece and the USSR. It drives national debt upward and success into the ground. Taxes skyrocket, jobs disappear and working Americans will bring home much less in their paychecks. If Sanders becomes president, all of our wallets will be feeling the “Bern.”

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.