Written by Michael Palomba
In a not so shocking outcome, Sen. Bernie Sanders won the California Democratic presidential primary on Super Tuesday.
What is shocking, however, is Californian’s favorable view of socialism.
An NBC News exit poll reveals that California Democrats have a very favorable view of socialism by a 53% to 33% margin. This is immensely alarming for a multitude of reasons.
First off, capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system, and it’s not close.
Secondly, from World Population Review, here is the list of countries “that have a socialist party that serves as a governing party:”
- Armenia
- Bolivia
- Ecuador
- Iceland
- Nicaragua
- Northern Ireland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Venezuela
I don’t see any “model countries” on that list. Now, here is a list of major capitalist countries:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- New Zealand
- Switzerland
- Australia
- Ireland
- Estonia
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- United Arab Emirates
And, of course, the United States.
There’s a reason that the majority of major countries are capitalist: because it works.
Bernie Sanders often says “when I talk about democratic socialism, I’m not looking at Venezuela. I’m not looking at Cuba. I’m looking at countries like Denmark and Sweden.” And that sounds great on the surface, but countries like Denmark and Sweden are not socialist.
In fact, Denmark’s Prime Minister issued a statement correcting Bernie’s false remarks: “I know that some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism,” he said. “Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.”
So, if Bernie’s main example, Denmark, has publicly denounced his claims, what countries is he looking at for inspiration?
Unfortunately, California liberals don’t seem concerned with the facts, and are falling for Sanders smoke and mirror show.
Sanders says he’s going to forgive student loan debt, but doesn’t know how it’s getting paid for. He says he’s going to make college free, but doesn’t know how it’s getting paid for. He says he’s going to make healthcare free, but he doesn’t know how it’s getting paid for. There’s a common thread here, which is that Bernie Sanders doesn’t know how he’s going to pay for any of his ideas.
What is reassuring is that Sanders was not the big winner for Democrats on Super Tuesday. That title goes to Joe Biden, surprisingly enough. Sanders won 435 delegates compared to Biden’s 513. The win was much needed for Biden, whose campaign appeared to be fizzling out just days ago.
The real winner of Super Tuesday this year, however, was President Donald Trump. Despite the fact that he is running as an incumbent with no serious challenger, Trump broke several voter turnout records in blue states and swing states.
So, while support for socialism is rising in California, it’s reassuring to see that is not necessarily the case on a national level.
This isn’t something we can take for granted, however, so remember to get out and vote again in November.
