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Socialism Tag

Most people can do without certain luxuries and conveniences for a significant amount of time. Temporary power and internet outages due to storms are common in many parts of America and people get through it. Food on the other hand, is a different story. As any student of history can tell you, when people can't find food things get ugly pretty fast. Venezuela is quickly entering that danger zone. Reuters reports:
'We want food!', Venezuelans cry at protest near presidency Venezuelan security forces fired teargas at protesters chanting "We want food!" near Caracas' presidential palace on Thursday, the latest street violence in the crisis-hit OPEC nation.

The socialist paradise of Venezuela is falling apart as panicked citizens suffer through shortages of food, toilet paper, electricity and other necessities. Bernie Sanders was recently interviewed on Univision and the host asked Bernie for his thoughts on the situation. Once again, leave it to someone in foreign media to ask a question no one in American journalism has thought to ask. Sanders clearly didn't like where the interview was going. NewsBusters reported:
Bernie Hits Bump on Univision: Speechless on Socialism’s Failures The Democrats’ socialist candidate for President of the United States, Bernie Sanders, was seriously tripped up this week in an interview with Univision’s León Krauze.

What could be seen as the final act in Venezuela’s worsening economic crisis, the Latin American country has begun selling its remaining gold reserves. Just three year after the death of its socialist leader, Venezuela -- once a leading oil producer -- is on the verge of bankruptcy. It is yet another 'miracle of socialism' that a country with the world's largest oil reserves can go almost broke. Venezuela's total oil reserves stand at an estimated 296.5 billion barrels, which is higher than Saudi Arabia’s 265.4 billion barrels. But the cash-strapped country is struggling to get investments and technical expertise to convert its oil reserves into revenue. Socialist leader Hugo Chávez got elected as country’s President in 1999 and introduced the ideology of “Socialism of the 21st Century”. Chávez enacted a new constitution, taking control of the state and the economy to carry out his “socialist revolution”.

Ithaca, NY, loves it some Democratic Socialism of the Bernie Sanders type. Ithaca is the second Most Pro-Sanders Zip Code in the nation, just behind the Mission District of San Francisco. https://res.cloudinary.com/crowdpac/image/upload/v1/posts/sqxrdtsjkv8eqenihsjf.jpg Here are the directions to my house, circa November 2008:
To live in Ithaca is to live in a city alive with anti-Bush, anti-war protest.  I often joke that the directions to my house in Ithaca  read as follows:  Take a right at the fifth Obama sign, a left at the third “Impeach Bush” placard, bear right at the “Support Our Troops, End the War” poster, and we are the house just after the “There’s a Village in Texas Missing its Idiot” banner.
Ithaca really is "10 Sq. miles surrounded by reality"

Coca-Cola has become the latest victim of socialism as the company announced it will no longer develop its product in Venezuela. Without sugar, they can only produce sugar free Coca-Cola. From CBS News:
The Atlanta-based company said in an emailed statement Friday said that its production of sugar-sweetened beverages will be suspended in the coming days after local suppliers reported they had run out of the raw material. Sugar-free beverages are not affected and the company said its offices and distribution centers remain open in Venezuela.

If you want to know why Democrat leaders and party officials are scared to deathski about Bernie Sanders at the top of the ticket in November, take a look at the Featured Image, the graphic on a T-Shirt sold by Liberty Maniacs. Bernie is doing well in head-to-head polling against Republicans because Republicans, including yours truly, have laid low in going after Bernie. Hillary, meanwhile, is too afraid of the progressive base of the Democrat Party to lower the hammer-and-sickle on Bernie's head through negative advertising. Buzzfeed reports that Team Bernie is not happy with the T-Shirt and related merchandise:

Remedying individual wealth and income inequality is the central rallying cry of the Democratic Party and candidates, and progressive activists. Bernie Sanders has made wealth redistribution a centerpiece of his campaign, which is inspiring college students. Even Hillary Clinton, who along with her husband amassed a fortune in the tens of millions of dollars through speaking fees on campuses and for Wall Street, is singing the same tune. Democratic Debate December 2015 Sanders Clinton One overlooked area of wealth inequality is at the college level -- some schools have amassed billion dollar plus endowments while others scrape for funds to meet operating expenses. As of mid-2015, the University of Chicago endowment stood at 7.58 billion:

President Obama continued his "Spring Break" from America by undermining the foundations of the country's successful economic system. After dancing the night away, Obama was addressed the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Town Hall at Usina Del Arte in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
I guess to make a broader point, so often in the past there's been a sharp division between left and right, between capitalist and communist or socialist. And especially in the Americas, that's been a big debate, right? Oh, you know, you're a capitalist Yankee dog, and oh, you know, you're some crazy communist that's going to take away everybody's property. And I mean, those are interesting intellectual arguments, but I think for your generation, you should be practical and just choose from what works. You don't have to worry about whether it neatly fits into socialist theory or capitalist theory -- you should just decide what works.

Apparently, Bernie Sanders' supporters can't stop themselves from expressing their thoughts about how great socialism is. The former former Soviet chess champion has taken to Facebook to express his thoughts about being lectured by the uninformed about something he knows all too well. Garry Kasparov writes:
I'm enjoying the irony of American Sanders supporters lecturing me, a former Soviet citizen, on the glories of Socialism and what it really means! Socialism sounds great in speech soundbites and on Facebook, but please keep it there. In practice, it corrodes not only the economy but the human spirit itself, and the ambition and achievement that made modern capitalism possible and brought billions of people out of poverty. Talking about Socialism is a huge luxury, a luxury that was paid for by the successes of capitalism. Income inequality is a huge problem, absolutely. But the idea that the solution is more government, more regulation, more debt, and less risk is dangerously absurd.

On Wednesday, March 9, 2016, France was hit by nationwide protests and rail strikes. Students teamed up with unions across France to protest against the proposed labour reforms, including the scrapping of 35-hour working week. Sluggish economic growth and rising unemployment have forced France’s socialist President Francois Hollande to push for a labour market reform. The 35-hour working week was one of those brilliant 'social justice' job creation ideas, crafted by socialists to compel businesses to hire extra employees to compensate for the lost working hours. Introduced more than 15 years ago, 35-hour week failed to have any impact on country’s unemployment rate. France's stringent firing laws coupled with generous holidays, rest breaks and financial benefits have forced companies to relocate elsewhere. If enacted, the reforms threaten end France’s 35 hours working week for French employees in the private sector.

The Democratic Party's acceptance of socialism isn't a new phenomenon. In fact, we've documented it on this blog many times. Now Politico is reporting a new poll which confirms that most Democrats are fine with this:
Poll: Majority of Democrats say socialism has 'positive impact' The term ‘socialist’ once was used as an epithet in American politics. Perhaps no more. In a year in which Bernie Sanders, a self-described ‘Democratic Socialist,’ is running a competitive primary campaign for the White House, a new survey finds that a healthy portion of Democratic primary voters are favorably inclined toward socialism.

On Saturday, Madeleine Albright introduced Hillary Clinton at an event in New Hampshire, telling the crowd: “There is a special place in hell” for women who do not support Clinton. Madeleine Albright (78) served as Secretary of State under the Clinton Administration, the same administration that gave us the now-defunct nuclear deal with North Korea. Finalized in 1994, Clinton's deal was used by the Communist Regime as a cover to build a nuclear bomb. At the time, President Bill Clinton called it "a good deal for the United States", ensuring that "North Korea will freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program. South Korea and our other allies will be better protected. The entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons." Fast forward to 2016; North Korea ushers in the New Year with blasting a 20-50 megaton Hydrogen Bomb and than last week tops it with launched a dual-use ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. soil. The test that North Korea wants to sell the world as a satellite launch, is just another leap for communist regime towards a inter-continental nuclear-weapon delivery system.

Bernie Sanders supporters are very enthusiastic, but seem a little short on political philosophy. A reporter from CNN recently asked attendees at a Sanders town hall event to describe socialism. Josh Feldman reported at Mediaite:
CNN’s Baldwin Asks Sanders Supporters to Define the Word ‘Socialist’ At a recent Bernie Sanders rally, CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin asked some of his supporters to define the word socialism. And, well, some of them didn’t exactly know…

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made life difficult for centrist Democrats. Sanders self-identifies as a Democratic Socialist; a label most Democrats avoid like the plague. During and interview airing Tuesday, Hardball's Chris Matthews asked Hillary Clinton to explain the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist. Not once, not twice, but three times Matthews asked Hillary to explain how Democrats and Socialists are different. Clinton refused. Instead she talked about peace, love, and unity. Yes, really.

Once upon a time, referring to a Democrat as a "socialist" was an insult. Now? Not so much. HotAir's Allah Pundit pointed out Monday that in a few short months, full throttled socialism is making a comeback. Data released by YouGov explored socialism tolerance among political parties. Compare the stats from May: may1

Every once in a while, Bill Maher tip toes out of the progressive box and makes statements or asks questions that stun his audience and the media. Reacting to Bernie Sanders' agenda and its estimated $18 trillion price tag, Maher challenged him by asking how America will pay for his radical agenda. Watch: After beginning the interview by stating that he doesn't think "most Americans realize that they’re already socialists," Maher challenges Sanders' the top 1% can pay for everything under the sun premise.

Back in 2008, Obama supporters would foam at the mouth if you suggested Obama was a socialist. Today, progressive activists are positively giddy about Bernie Sanders who openly identifies as a Democratic Socialist. Now that the mask has come off, should the Democratic Party change its name? MSNBC's Chris Matthews was on The Late Show this week and when host Seth Meyers asked him who best represents Democrats, Matthews suggested it's Bernie. Jeffrey Meyer of NewsBusters has the details (emphasis is his):
Chris Matthews Admits Socialist Bernie Sanders Best Represents Democrats Rather than name frontrunner Hillary Clinton has emblematic of the Democratic Party, Matthews eagerly touted how Socialist Bernie Sanders’ views are the future of the party as it moves ever so far to the left:

Despite the crowds of devoted followers who show up at his campaign events, not everyone on the left is convinced that Bernie Sanders could close the deal with America, should he somehow beat the Clinton machine. Bernie's biggest problem, according to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, is the way Sanders describes himself in political terms:
Why Bernie Sanders isn’t going to be president, in five words Here's an exchange from Bernie Sanders's appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sunday: And, in those five words, Sanders showed why — no matter how much energy there is for him on the liberal left — he isn't getting elected president.