With all the discussion about Bernie Sanders’ defense of “democratic socialism,” I got to wonder why I’ve heard so little from the other side — a defense of “democratic capitalism.” After all, capitalism is the economic system of choice for the United States and polls show that the word “socialism” is one that causes many supporters of Hillary Clinton and even Martin O’Malley to cringe. I think it’s worth a diary to discuss Sanders’ position and explain why it’s so difficult to counter.
An explanation of capitalism might be in order first. Capitalism is based on a belief that corporations, and many businesses, should be owned by shareholders, who then elect a Board of Directors who in turn pick a Chairman. This ownership is freely given in return for purchase of shares. In other words, everyone who has the money is free to buy as many shares as they can. Each share generally carries one right to vote; the more shares you have, the more votes you get. Those who do not own shares have, logically, no right to vote. It is perfectly legal — and exremely common — for one person to have a million or more votes under his or her control. The actions of the corporation or business is then controlled by the person or people with the most votes.
Now this can be a much more efficient way of running a business and provide perhaps a greater profit to the shareholders and it certaiinly entails a great deal of freedom since everyone is equally free to buy shares — in the same sense that everyone has an equal right to buy a Lexus. But by no stretch of the imagination is it democratic.
Freedom is not democracy. Yes, democracy implies freedom, but in a democracy everyone has a vote — one vote- based not on what he or she owns, but on what he or she IS. This means that “democratic capitalism” is a contradiction in terms. One cannot have democracy when one person can outvote thousands. So, when Sanders talks about democratic socialism, he is describing a system most in keeping with the traditions and principles of the United States of America. Many of the wars we have fought have been based upon what we were told is a “defense of democracy,” but in reality they have been in defense of capitalism — which is not the same thing. The defense of brutal dictatorships cannot be reconciled with democracy, even though they may protect “American interests” in countries like Cuba, Iran or Chile. While American soldiers are more than willing to lay down their lives for democracy, they would not be as willing to die for the kind of “freedom” inherent in protecting a system of economics.
I am not writing to defend socialism, although I sincerely believe it represents a better system for the great majority of the American people. What I would like to point out is theneed to balance what capitalistic “freedom” has given us as opposed to what would have happened under a genuine economic democracy.