On 1/23/07, Louis Proyect <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>January 21, 2007
>The Socialist Senator
>By MARK LEIBOVICH
>
>Sanders calls himself as a "democratic Socialist." When I asked him
>what this meant, as a practical matter, in capitalist America circa
>2007, he did what he often does: he donned his rhetorical Viking's
>helmet and waxed lovingly about the Socialist governments of
>Scandinavia. He mentioned that Scandinavian countries have nearly
>wiped out poverty in children — as opposed to the United States, where
>18 to 20 percent of kids live in poverty. The Finnish government
>provides free day care to all children; Norwegian workers get 42 weeks
>of maternity leave at full pay.
You'll note that Sanders does not acknowledge the
severe cutbacks that the Scandinavian countries
have endured in the past 10 years or so. That
would require a Marxist analysis, as opposed to
the "socialist" bromides he offers.
even if he had such analysis, it hurts his personal political cause
(reelection, etc.) to admit that he can't point to an ideal.
--
Jim Devine / "Doubt is uncomfortable, but certainty is ridiculous." -- Voltaire.
