By Kathryn
Being a democratic socialist, there can be no doubt that Bernie Sanders would be the best thing (since sliced bread) for the USA which has long been regarded as a rigid profit-obsessed and elitist nightmare of stone cold capitalistic neo-liberalism. Let’s face it, the leading countries (and economies) in the world are all managed by democratic socialist governments (that operate independently from their monarchy, eg Sweden and Denmark).
There can be no doubt that capitalism only benefits the obscenely rich and powerful at the expense of the vulnerable and is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom and equality. Democratic socialism is the best form of socialism which is based on egalitarianism, shared wealth for the benefit of all, generous taxpayer-subsidised health services (like Medicare in Australia), subsidised education to benefit all children no matter the socio-economic background of their parents and government control over vital services such as transport, utilities, the supply of water, health care, aged care and education. When democratic socialist governments control society’s basic and essential functions, it can make better use of resources, reduce the undeniable rising costs and inefficiency of foreign-owned privatisation and protect its citizens jobs in those services. Good democratic socialist governments foster good relations with unions (who work for the benefit of vulnerable employees); they reduce the appalling disparity in wealth, not only in different areas, but also in all societal ranks and classes.
There is good reason why right-wing-extremism’s (even fascism’s) lack of transparency and widespread corruption is rampant in conservative governments (especially within the Trump and Morrison regimes in the USA and Australia), quite simply they don’t give a rat’s behind about society – they only care about themselves and their billionaire donors in the relentlessly rapacious Top 1%.
Why are Americans so terrified of democratic socialism? Because they have been brainwashed for decades that democratic socialism equates to communism which is one of the worst, most politically skewed lies ever perpetrated by heartless capitalistic regimes to attain and maintain power and inequality over their citizens. Are they really that selfish that they are not prepared to pay a little bit more tax to benefit everyone? Just about every civilised country on earth has a government-subsidised health care system to benefit the most vulnerable and poorest people in their midst: the UK, Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany – even Cuba has a far better and more equitable health care system than America. Bernie Sanders has promised to introduce this highly desirable facet of democratic socialism which can only benefit citizens of the USA.
The fact that staggering right wing neo-liberal capitalists always refer to socialists as “lefties” or “communists” and mention that they, right wing plutocrats, are the only ones who champion the rights of the individuals (provided they are not socialists, communists, Muslims, blacks, Jews, female or gay – have I missed anyone?) just proves that they have not got a shred of credibility nor an ounce of insight as to what a socialist really is!
SOCIALISM is not communism … as much as the LNP tries to draw parallels with communism.
A SOCIALIST is defined by its very description, ie someone who cares about society, who cares about the rights, independence and egalitarianism of others.
A SOCIALIST has empathy for the poor, the unemployed, the mentally ill, the homeless, the disabled and the vulnerable.
A SOCIALIST cares about the future education and employment prospects of our children and grandchildren;
A SOCIALIST really cares about the environment and the type of world we leave to our children – as opposed to the rampant, unending greed of capitalists and cold-blooded fascists who know the cost of everything but the value of nothing;
To be an ardent SOCIALIST usually means that one is more predisposed to be kind, generous and compassionate.
To be a SOCIALIST is to be intelligent, progressive and in tune with our environment and quality of life;
To be a SOCIALIST is to have a great respect for democratic process, freedom of speech and the equality of ALL people no matter their race, colour, religion or ideology;
To be a SOCIALIST is to understand that civil, decent societies are judged by the way they treat their poorest citizens and their children (the callously inhumane Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison regime fails on all accounts);
To be SOCIALIST is a good thing, an honourable thing. SOCIALISTS despise war mongering neo-liberal fascism; they abhor despicable liars and condemn racists who hide behind insidious flag-waving nationalism and false patriotism which the ultra-conservative right-wing use to divide communities and spread their hatred and vile ideologies.
When I have a good look at the disgraceful psychopaths in the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison regime, I am even more proud of being a socialist and very proud of the likeminded, empathetic people who support the socialist cause!
What do ALL the people named below have in common?
Jesus Christ, George Orwell, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Pablo Picasso, Martin Luther King Jnr, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and Australia’s best PM, Gough Whitlam?
Answer: They were all high-achieving, compassionate SOCIALISTS!
I would like to challenge right wing neo-liberals to name one single person (alive or dead) who was an ultra-right wing oligarchical neo-liberal Republican, Tory or member of the fascist LNP, to name one single thing they did to benefit mankind. Name one neo-liberal who achieved anything that could, in any way, be construed as altruistic or philanthropic! The names that pop up on this side of the political fence care nothing about democracy, free speech or the rights of others. They are notorious war criminals, cruel self-entitled capitalists and/or horrendous authoritarian dictators who couldn’t care two hoots about ordinary citizens. They were/are callously inhumane without a shred of compassion – often hiding their unspeakable cruelty behind a facade of sanctimonious, bible-thumping hypocrisy (like George W Bush, Donald Trump, John Howard, Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Eric Abetz, Cory Bernardi, Pauline Hanson).
When you look back through the ignominious history of the Republican movement and the LNP, there isn’t a single right-wing MP worth a dime. Every commitment made to a vile, nasty offshore war (such as Korea, Vietnam and the horrendous genocidal Iraqi war) has been under a Republican/LNP government who consistently use war, terror, hatred and fear to divide nations. When things look bleak in the polls, the war-mongering right-wing are always prepared to stoop to using war as the last resort to cling onto power with bloodstained fingers – ready and willing to sacrifice millions of lives and spend billions to distract focus from their horrendous policies and/or use hatred and division for their own political agenda. It is always a hate-filled, xenophobic right-wing government that drags us into war and it always takes a left-wing, socialist government to get us out of it!
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