As Bernie Sanders gains traction, in the preliminary stages, a new narrative seems to be emerging from The Democratic Party. The narrative is “when Bernie talks about Socialism, it’s not the bad kind”, like Cuba or Venezuela. That’s like saying “while I do have cancer” it’s not the bad kind.
Adolf Hitler started The Nationalist Socialist Party with all the best intentions and with great success at first, especially for the working class. This is the very same working class of people who Bernie Sanders espouses to want to help. Unfortunately, like all well intended Socialists, something inevitably goes very very wrong with the whole thing. The whole premise of creating an equal living wage doesn’t sit well with those that simply put, are more capable or smarter than others. In a Democracy these individuals are revered and rewarded and usually it is to the benefit of the rest of society.
In a Socialist Society, the playing field is leveled, so those more capable are stifled with the lack of financial incentive creating jealousy, and greed, from the very top of society all the way down to the lowest wage earner. Acts like bribery thrive in that environment, and as the government tries harder and harder to maintain order, it resorts to more violent and restrictive measures for containment.
The same inevitable outcome has been repeated several times throughout history, so don’t take my word for it alone. Germany, Italy, Cuba, Russia, and Venezuela have all tried and failed to make it work, and they worked very hard at it all ending with failure. Crime spikes in the Socialist environment like mold in damp dark places, as those who feel they are more deserving try to achieve a better life through illegitimate means.
The whole idea is flawed. It may function in small communities, cut off from the rest of the globe, but with trans-global trade, and boundless financial opportunity, the idea fails miserably. There is no “good kind of Socialism” it’s all bad, just like Cancer and S.T.D.s.