American reacts to 'Democratic Socialism Explained'

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Understanding Democratic Socialism
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[@diarmuidkuhle8181]

The US doesn't have a political left and a right. They have a centre right and an extreme right.

[@wojtek5596]

Yup , and EU has only communist and left communist.

[@almostyummymummy]

From my NZ perspective, the US to me is more moderate right (at their best - Democrats) to Far Right (heading towards extreme at a rate of knots - Republicans). I would / will not be at all surprised if they become a one party state.

[@truxton1000]

Well, there is a lot of socialist structures in USA, much more than in most countries in the world. Fact.

[@binxbolling]

​@@almostyummymummySo ignorant.

[@binxbolling]

You know nothing.

[@mats7492]

Bernie Sanders would be a centrist in europe.. Some of his points would be centre-right Hes not even that left in in the international political scale The stuff he advertises for is a no brainer in most of places

[@deijgenwijzenoot7254]

Europe contains many countries. I consider Bernie a right-wing politician.

[@Psi-Storm]

@@deijgenwijzenoot7254 But you have to consider the country he is in. Right wing politicians would promote the reduction of social benefits, and conservatives would want to keep the current system, maybe reduce funding for stuff where they think too much money is spend on. Bernie promotes to increase social benefits (even when in Europe most conservatives would see those programs as "natural"), so he's a moderate social democrat.

[@barefoot2470]

@@deijgenwijzenoot7254are you nuts? he would be considered social democrat in Europe, not right wing🤦🏻‍♂️ rightwing is Le Pen and Meloni

[@user-xi6nk4xs4s]

@@barefoot2470 That's the problem with terms like left and right. I consider Le Pen and Meloni extreme right wing, and Bernie Sanders right of the center.

[@deijgenwijzenoot7254]

Do you know the meaning of the word "I"? Le Pen is extreme-right.@@barefoot2470

[@dutchroll]

I lived in the USA for a year and got really, really tired of being told I live in a "communist" or "socialist" country, Australia, simply because we have a universal healthcare system and gun control like almost every other civilised western nation. Calling us communist or socialist is quite laughable (the first 50 times at least). It's quite sad how distorted the American view has become.

[@cyberfux]

I feel you, i (as someone from WESTERN Germany) living in the eastern (former communist) part of Germany now so i personally know enough people who really have LIVED in communism - and they call our actual system (that btw. the Americans "dictated" the western part in 1949, aka "offered advice to the "Parlamentarischer Rat") is socialist/communist? Well, ok THESE DAYS i (as a "Wessi") actually experience shortages due to Covid, Ukraine, Globalization and good ole american greed but before Rony? Nope, none of that!

[@Lars_erik]

I think even communism is a term that’s often misunderstood and/or used incorrectly. Because most countries that many people call communistic (for instance North-Korea) actually have a totalitarian regime.

[@joannedickie7863]

We had the same experience while visiting the US. Several Americans told us they "didn't know Australia was a communist country" when we mentioned our Medicare universal health system.

[@lours6993]

What can you say? They are dumbf**ks.

[@papalaz4444244]

"communism" is the meme every neoliberal Nazi psychopath uses for Christian behavior they apparently never see in their Bibles.

[@marcelgijsbers4970]

"Wouldn't Free college just be straight up socialism?" 😂 No, in the Netherlands we call that a sound investment. Because the return (lifetime taxes over a higher income) is much greater then the cost... Yeah, even free college is capitalism 😳

[@TheRawrnstuff]

I wouldn't say capitalism either. More like strategy. Nation-funded education is an investment by the nation towards the future, but that doesn't mean it's inherently some economic system or another. And it's not like Capitalism is the only system that does trade.

[@jurgnobs1308]

​@@TheRawrnstuff it's not capitalism, but it's something most capitalists can agree with

[@5tre55full]

There is no free college. Or anything else. I live in eu and I don't enjoy paying 50percent+ taxes t To be able to say I have something for "free". But since you went there US residents have aircraft carriers for free too.

[@jurgnobs1308]

@@5tre55full why do idiots feel the need to repeat this? EVERYONE knows that nothing is ACTUALLY free.

[@5tre55full]

@@jurgnobs1308 well apparently some people support socialism against all reason so it is essential that in socialism people are owned by the state, there are no rights and no possessions. From "equality and equity" in socialist commercials to absolute state power is just few years difference and one willing dictator

[@Kompromist]

The system in Germany and the biggest part of the EU is called "social market economy". It annoyes us that Americans always call it "socialism".

[@Nikioko]

Social market economy was abolished in Germany by Helmut Kohl, and predator capitalism was introduced instead.

[@thetruth6417]

The biggest part of the EU is called bullshit.

[@UlliStein]

And that they say it in a negative way. If all that would be "socialism", I would be a socialist too.

[@Kari.F.]

Yes!!! "Democratic Socialism" is a term NOBODY outside of the US would ever use. I'm Norwegian. Norway is (as you know) a social democracy. Americans have somehow understood that social media is very different from Socialist media, and that a social gathering is not a Socialist gathering. But explaining the difference between a social democracy and a Socialist regime is like trying to explain quantum physics to a child. Especially when dealing with the self-proclaimed "Europe experts" in a certain political cult - who insist on telling me in the most condescending way possible how stupid I am for not knowing that Norway and Europe are two different countries... 🤦‍♀️ 🥴

[@Northerner-NotADoctor]

In Poland the Social Market Economy is even engraved in the constitution since 1997 when we're dismantling the "Real Socialism".

[@SirKlauth]

From my perspective as a european, Bernie has always seemed like one of your most... normal and reasonnable politicians.

[@cellevangiel5973]

But Bernie is not left. Maybe he is center but he can be right.

[@lbergen001]

In European perspective he is a righ-winged social democrate.

[@olejorgensen1964]

@@lbergen001 Right winged might be taking it to far, but I'll agree with Social Democrate - a bit to the left, but not much. :-) Peace

[@timpeterjensen2364]

@@lbergen001 depends on where you are from i guess, in my nation he would be considered a centrist conservative at best.

[@DemosIoannou]

@@timpeterjensen2364 guys ? where in Europe Bernie is considered right or even center ? he is like progressive left ! what exactly makes him right or center ?

[@MasterHigure]

As a Norwegian, we don't call it democratic socialism, we can it social democracy.

[@hommedterre1]

What a lot of Americans don`t seem to realize is that the term "Socialism (by which largely social democracy is actually meant) is gladly and carelessly used by their politicians to scare the average citizen who, not having been taught what it exactly is, to pander to the whims and wants of mostly corporate America to keep the unequal distribution of wealth in the US and promote their own greedy motives and to which a lot of politicians gladly collude either to promote their own self (mostly economic) interests or out of plain ignorance. Hats off to you Ryan for valiantly on educating yourself on what is (by US political standards) there considered as a "delicate" issue.

[@MrSeedi76]

Bingo.

[@philv3941]

it's the Strawman fallacy. Classical

[@marg147]

Well said.

[@kristianpoulherkild3401]

Social Democracy as in the nordic countries or Germany is very much Socialism and within the branch of Reform Marxism. And there are amble reasons for opposing that antidemocratic ideology. It is just soft fascism (which btw is also leftwing).

[@Silverwolvie]

As European I don't follow USA politics closely... but every 4 years I wait in horror what idiot comes to power....

[@scottevil4531]

Agreed. I, in my lifetime, was aware of 5 US presidents and from the outside it seems the last 25 years was a corporate shill followed by a baffoon on repeat.

[@thatguyoverthere9705]

As a European who DOES usually follow it, same

[@justinlinnane8043]

2024 may well be the last roll of the dice for this sad little country of morons !!@@thatguyoverthere9705

[@leisen9679]

We have to, because if affects the whole world - and that is the real horror. Otherwise I would forget about this developing country (not my choice of words, its purely statistical, all indicators point to that.

[@paul1979uk2000]

US elections always come across as a circus to me, it just feels more like a show than an election and it all begins way before the election begins and less said about the money thrown at elections, the better, it's a circus.

[@chrismeyer9990]

Re: how Bernie Sanders would be seen in Europe: Even the US Democrats would be seen as right of center conservatives here, leaving him still short from being considered left.

[@michalandrejmolnar3715]

No, European here. We had neoliberalism too. You had Clinton, we had Schroeder and Blair. Its actually easier to defend existing welfare systems than inštitúte them from anew. Thats why if the Democrats actually inštitúted all of those social programs they would be to the left of Európean centre left parties.

[@Nikioko]

In Germany, the Democrats would be considered as centre-right, like CDU, and the Republicans as far right, like AfD. The whole left side of the political spectrum is missing in the American two party system.

[@gnommg]

​@@Nikiokodemocrats are more like FDP

[@antonywerner1893]

I woud name bernie Senders a centrist Socialdemocrat.

[@videoponder4673]

Yes.. I remember the 1990s when some journalist said on TV: We have to keep in mind, that Bill Clinton is way more conservative as Helmuth Kohl has ever been.

[@Nonov_Yurbisniss]

9:28 - Just so we're all clear, the video got 1/5 of the flags right: For Norway, they put the flag of Denmark, Finland is correct, for Denmark, they put the flag of Norway, for Sweden, they put the flag of Iceland, and for Iceland, they put the flag of Sweden 😂

[@ulfdanielsen6009]

" It´s the same thing! They´re all commies anyway!" :)

[@88marome]

lol Why did they do that?

[@DQvigstad]

Generally bad video

[@millepill]

Just as the description of the ideologies were wrong.

[@WournosFromTwitch]

@@88maromeBecause they don't know how to fact check.

[@Sophie.S..]

'Researching Democratic Socialism, I might be put on a list or something' Oh Ryan, that is the most American thing I have ever heard.

[@noadlor]

Reminiscent of McCarthyism.

[@Sophie.S..]

Yes, but that was Communism - I wish they would learn the diffference. @@noadlor

[@nickmasuen1859]

@@Sophie.S.. You are right, but at that point in time Socialism was also counted as Communism and the thought process of those two have stayed intertwined for a vary long time in the U.S. It is only recently that it has, to some degree, broken apart.

[@tyttiMK]

@@nickmasuen1859 Communism and socialism are literally part of the same ideology. Only socialists care about their tiny difference, most people want neither of them because socialism is inherently authoritarian and has only brought misery and deprivation to the people forced under it.

[@carltaylor6452]

@@tyttiMK I can see now that you are a right-wing ideologue for whom accurate labels for concepts is subservient to your belief-system as opposed to representative of reality. Historically, Socialists have been very hostile to Communism. Democratic Socialism in the UK after the war was especially hostile to Communism; Churchill - a Conservative politician - coined the term the 'iron curtain' and UK Democratic Socialist governments between 1945 and 1979 agreed with him.

[@Dqtube]

5:45 It is also a question of how you define corruption, because in the US many things that we in Europe consider corruption are simply called lobbying. Some countries even ban corporate sponsorship of political parties.

[@Vera150607]

Facts 👆

[@venetoaward]

Yeah lobbying in america is pretty wild, but that's just turbocapitalist america

[@noadlor]

So many people are sick and tired of the lobbyists owning the government. America needs to stop this practice.

[@neilbiggs1353]

Even without lobbying the legal system in the US looks like a mess of conflicts of interest (which can be interchangeable with corruption). Say for example that you have a person affiliated to political party A looking to prosecute a person affiliated to political party B, even if A's actions are completely justifiable, B can undermine the proceedings by calling them politically motivated. When it comes to political cases, there are no neutral parties in the US legal system such as when a new president is elected, they pick the people who will be the US Attorneys in each state

[@noadlor]

@@neilbiggs1353 Conspiracy and propaganda are another big problem that cropped up in the past eight years. How to handle that without stepping on free speech? Yet, it's become one of the most dangerous weapons of modern times.

[@martijnkeisers5900]

I feel sorry for the enormous amount of working poor in the USA, living in their cars or being bankrupt cause of medical bills..

[@Chris-ss8zt]

The worst is the brainwash of the government to glorify as the bestest system in the world.

[@marie-clauderitaine4328]

It's coming to France...

[@jensholm5759]

Its Your fault. You could start with many 1000s pages, where You deny to follow vitals by EU. You also could start with Your insane winners take all system. So many people and oppinons are not even represented. Desperate people voted Marcon. And so many only had Le Pen. For me - a just nobody from Denmark - You are more and more as a museum. Dont give up. When we make reforms, we always take care of the poorest and dont harm them. By that we get much more space for the realforms. We 14/1-2023 will have two Queens. You can ask. Her husband was French and She exelent in Frech and mostly still has a Chateu Caix and her by that are 50% French. She is very bright and can run things bettter then it is now.

[@BoGy1980]

as a belgian, i really detested how bernie sanders was brought in the media by his opponents, they made a clown of maybe the best candidate in the last 40 years ...

[@ChokyoDK]

I think that some people in Europe, including me, saw Bernie as a breath of fresh air, and a glimmer of hope for the future of the US.

[@davidioanhedges]

That in the USA he is considered nearly a communist ... but in most of Europe would be considered either a centrist or even slightly right wing shows what USA politics is like ..

[@lisacrandall409]

I agree, from a New Zealand perspective, Bernie comes across as sensible, caring, and moderate. For me, Bernie's ideas contrast against the heartless, extreme capitalism of the United States in general. I dream of a United States where public opinion would allow Bernie, or someone with similar views, to become president. Because even though I am not American, the importance of the US on the global stage means that events there affect the whole world. Plus the fact that I lived in the US for a couple of years, have a lot of American friends, and care about the lives of Americans.

[@Kyragos]

@@davidioanhedgesIndeed, here in France, pretty much all of the American politicians are considered to be at least on the center right wing. Comparing Sanders with our communist party, which is nowadays a far cry from the Soviet communism, is laughable.

[@irminschembri8263]

For me as a teacher of politics and economics in Germany Social Democracy is a combination of Free Market Rules aka capitalism with a Social " Net " aka " socialism " or capitalism with a social touch . The government doesn't interfere in the rules of the free market but makes sure that neccessities like clean water, education, health care etc are available for its population and most importantly that the rights of workers and vulnerable people are protected. How can you be productive or live a decent life if you have to constantly fear unemployment aka "hire and fire ", eviction from your home or becoming bankrupt bc of a medical bill ???

[@arohk4415]

Die Grünen wollen allerdings genau das in Deutschland ändern mit Planwirtschaft.

[@herrakaarme]

Governments are interfering with the free market all the time. Competition regulation is one extremely beneficial form of that. Without it, consumers could often only buy a single, overpriced product/service, once the most unscrupulous corporation got rid of all the competitors, creating a monopoly. Although this also works in the other direction, with the patent system ensuring a company doing R&D will have a chance to recoup the money spent in R&D, by restricting competition (free market) for a set duration of time. Various taxes, customs, and tariffs can also affect the free market, which sometimes leads to bitter fights in the WTO, between countries/blocks.

[@helpmeforget...]

Mate. Every time i hear your politicians and media yell socialism, i scratch my head thinking what the actual f..k! It's like everything they scream is bad, and all that ' bad shit' , we have in Australia. I really don't get it hey! Yes , we have rising housing costs and all that but i just got back from the Emergency Department after the ambos' ( see if you pronounce that one?😊) took me on a 30km drive. I'm fine, sorta' but i didn't spend a cent , no insurance , just medicare and the system in which us Australians live by.. I'm going back later today for a freebie MRI ! Apparently, this sucks and i'm an evil socialist. The sweet irony is obvious now. Americans do not know what the word actually means, gotta love your education system and /or media for that one 😊 You seriously need to get your family down here mate, a whole bunch of people would happily welcome you all. No offence but your country kinda sucks. 😉

[@irminschembri8263]

@@herrakaarme Still, compared to communist countries or "socialist" countries like the former GDR - the topic of the vid - this interference is minimal and mostly a means of consumer protection as you rightly stated.

[@gnommg]

In capitalism boom and bust cycles are a feature. The social free market system tries to alleviate the effects of bust times through social systems and government intervention as well as forcing worker participation in business decisions. Theoretically a good system but easily hollowed out by capitalist lobbying.

[@BlueFlash215]

Ryan, I'm so glad you are watching these videos and exposing them at least a little to the public. I often discussed with US Americans and as a German I was either called a Nazi or a Communist/Socialist. It seems that the majority of US citizens have almost nor clue what the terms mean.

[@noadlor]

Americans are brainwashed into hating anything that resembles social democracy for decades. It's amazing how often you hear hosts of far right news or podcasters say "socialist" or "communist" to refer to the democratic party. It has worked so well that any time Trump talks about how he is going to turn America into an authoritarian dictatorship, his base cheers. Thus, Americans learned nothing from WWll, they obviously don't educate their students on these subjects, and now they are completely blind to what is going on in their own country.

[@znail4675]

It doesn't help that Nazi had socialist in their name making some US people call them leftists to shift the blame.

[@shadowfox009x]

They don't. I mean they called Obama a socialist, who, by German standards, is a centrist. Very much in line with the centrists in the CDU/FDP. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren? Strongly left leaning centrists. They have no idea what socialism or communism actually stands for. For them it's just everything they are against. Or everything they see as "woke" without knowing what "woke" means. Of course, healthcare is a non-issue in Germany. Instead there's a debate about a basic income for everyone. Tell that to a conservative American and watch them implode 😀. If you really think about it, Germany had healthcare (first healthcare insurance was still under Bismark in 1883) before we had democracy.

[@homla8116]

That's so hypocritical of them. Even my grandfather liked most Germans, just not those that he fought against for 5 years here in Norway. Which I think is fair. Ich libe Deutschland. Nice people, amazing food, beer, the alps and it's close enough to Norwegian that it isn't too hard to understand😁

[@FuzzyFoot58]

So many americans think that socialism and communism is the same thing; McCarthy is still very much alive in the united states.

[@AnaCarolinaOlivar]

sadly true

[@tyttiMK]

Socialism and communism are part of the same ideology, there is no real difference between them. Maybe you think that socialism worked well in the USSR and is working in North Korea and Venezuela but most people don't.

[@FuzzyFoot58]

@@tyttiMK If that were true then why are they called different things? Communism is socialism taken to the extreme. Moderate socialism isnt as oppressive as communism, especially not when restrained and mixed with capitalism, like in several places in Europe. I am not a follower of communism, because it only looks good on paper and doesnt work in practise because it ignores basic human trsits and emotions like greed and envy. Keep your bitchy attitude to yourself.

[@Idk-ys7rt]

Socialism and communism are distinct ideologies

[@tyttiMK]

@@Idk-ys7rt No, they are not! :D And socialism is an ECONOMIC system, anyway, you know, the one that is anticapitalist and against private property? Name a country where socialism has worked.

[@clivegilbertson6542]

G'day Mate! What it comes down to is the total lack of teaching of critical thinking in the education system particularly in the USA... Cheers!

[@carolinesch.]

Yall americans just use socialism way wrong and not even know what it means😂

[@Chris-ss8zt]

Nothing else to expect from Americans 😂😂😂... ok, from the average ones

[@ogkendrick6392]

For real !

[@seangoldman6833]

People here are taught that bad words are scary and not to bother with what the words actually mean. I always flash back to a news segment during one of the Obama elections where a woman being interviewed was screaming that he was a fascist communist with complete seriousness. Never mind that those are two completely different extreme ideologies on opposite ends of the political spectrum and that Obama was a center right politician even by American standards, he was bad therefore he was the bad words.

[@Spacemongerr]

Even the explainer video he is watching here is quite wrong and shows a clear lack of knowledge of socialism or its history.

[@trorisk]

@@Spacemongerr Can you elaborate? Because affirming one thing is one thing, demonstrating it with arguments and examples is another.

[@philovermyer6166]

Americans' ability to decimate meaning in language is staggering.

[@Northerner-NotADoctor]

It is actually terrifying.

[@seldom_bucket]

And sadly it seems they 'could care less' about that fact 😅

[@K__a__M__I]

The land of Liberty turned the word 'liberal' into a curseword. The mind boggles.

[@yellfire]

Its the labeling of your political view or just your opinion on any matter that has dumbed down the public dialogue. Labeling in politics is now something akin to cussing in an argument-we resort to it to distract from the issues at hand. And that’s a shame

[@Northerner-NotADoctor]

@@yellfire It's not about labelling. It's about changing meaning of words.

[@evilmessiah81]

i realy dont get why education is not free in the usa, good educated people are the essence of a healthy society

[@durabelle]

Because too many people in power don't want a healthy society, they want to protect their own wealth and position. If only the rich get a good education it's much easier to keep mistreating the poor.

[@samirSch]

There is no such thing as "free education". It's a service, it's paid. If you mean paid by taxpayers, the US has public schools and they are such a failure like everywhere you have bureaucrats running it. As for higher education, it's paid, because unlike Finland and its 4mi people, US has over 320mi. It takes much more resources to provide free college for such higher population just so people can smoke a blunt and quit because they can't decide on a course to finish.

[@durabelle]

@@samirSch You forget that Finland only has 5 million potential tax payers to pay for all of it. That's why population doesn't really have anything to do with it. It's a lot cheaper to provide a service that only needs to cover it's own costs than it is to run a system designed to create profit for businessmen on the side. Finlands public school system works reasonably well because there's just a handful of private schools, so it's in everyone's interests to keep the public schools on a good level. The best teachers don't all go to work in private schools, most get employed by the public schools. Teachers get a 5 year university education (yes, for free, although most take a student loan to cover some of their living costs while studying). Teachers get paid a salary that's enough to live on, so they have enough time to plan good lessons and even have some rest on their free time. So they don't hate their jobs in the public schools. Basically all Finnish kids go to public schools, so there's no stigma to it, nothing to do with poverty or privilege. The few private schools we have are specialised in some way, like the international school where teaching is done mainly in English, and some schools following alternative pedagogies like Steiner. They all have to follow the same curriculum though, so it doesn't make a huge difference in many ways. Kids coming from the private schools aren't seen as any better than others. (More weird if anything, if they're from the Steiner school or similar.) A good public school system can be afforded in a society that wants it, and it works as long as it is the main option. Kind of like public healthcare. The more private competition it gets, the worse effect it has on the whole, especially if the private businesses pay teachers (or doctors and nurses) more than the public options can and hence skim the cream from the top. The more money politicians cut from the public budgets, the more appealing the private options become. Corrupted and greedy politicians are the worst threat for public schools and healthcare, and that's currently happening more and more in Finland too. Directing government funds from the public sector to the private companies and breaking down the system, while the politicians are more or less secretly pocketing that money by having connections to the businesses they support. It still works, but not as well as it's been working before.

[@chrisharris1522]

It is not free because it is specifically designed to perpetuate a class system

[@samirSch]

@@chrisharris1522 The only class system that exists is the people vs the socialist aristocracy/elite.

[@Emankind]

As a dual national I am often in the position of explaining Socialism to my American friends. American’s misunderstanding of Dem Socialism is mind-numbing. They often don’t even realize that they are already over halfway there.

[@charlesunderwood6334]

Most democratic countries- USA 36th, most of the countries that themselves democratic socialist are in the top 10; similar pattern for education, longevity, healthcare, happiness, freedom- as far as safety goes the DS countries are all at the very top of least violent deaths, with USA being 130th to155th (depending on counting small countries). The only lists the USA comes out top are number of billionaires and number in prison.

[@gwebster6600]

Well said.

[@Asa...S]

If you count billionaires _per capita_ the US has fewer than for instance Sweden and Norway, though. According to Forbes 2023 Sweden has 39 billionaires (in US dollars, of course, not Swedish kronor) which we can compared to some US states with about 10 million people, as Sweden. North Carolina: 6 billionaires Michigan: 11 billionaires Georgia: 18 billionaires Sweden: 39 billionaires Or compare Norway to US states with about 5-6 million people as Norway. Alabama: 0 billionaires South Carolina: 1 billionaires Minnesota: 4 billionaires Colorado:12 billionaires Wisconsin:7 billionaires Norway: 12 billionaires

[@albertopiergiorgi5980]

@@Asa...S These U.S. billionaires would never become them in Sweden if they had to pay such an FAIR tax on their wealth as the Swedes do.

[@speleokeir]

To be fair it also comes close to the top of the list of developed countries when it comes to worst pollution, food safety and animal welfare.😐

[@asalindstrom6845]

Swedes pay taxes on earnings but we have 0% tax on wealth, inheritance or receiving of gifts since about 20 years now. And the maximum tax on your private home is capped at about 800 usd per year.

[@kortanioslastofhisname]

"Social market economy" and "social democracy" are the correct terms for the Scandinavian, German, Dutch etc. systems. Calling those systems "democratic socialism" has caused almost anyone I have talked to about this stuff (since it became a popular term in 2016) to roll their eyes and groan with frustration at US leftists using terms incorrectly. As to where Bernie would be politically in Europe... centrist.

[@andbelov]

Yep. Because US politics are shifted to the right on the European scale. They have the Blue Right-wing Party and the Red Even More Right-wing Party.

[@Preyfr60]

I would argue Bernie Sanders is Centre right, but on the left of DNC...

[@maxsnel5705]

I don't know from which country you are but here in europe he would definitely still be a leftist😂

[@Preyfr60]

@@maxsnel5705 Allright...

[@PierreDole]

I live in a social country, Germany. We have a lot of social nets. So many, even most Germans don't know about them. It's not only the one well known major net that helps unemployed people. We have a lot of social nets that help handicaped people and people with mental issues, ill ones or addicted to something. Our government spend a lot of money for state and private institutions which help these people. The idea behind this is to keep and/or make them able to work. It's an investment in citizens.

[@larstveiten4164]

😂🇧🇻🇧🇻😂

[@hollywu7768]

A little notice on tax rate comparison. While DE has 0% rate for annual income for under 14k USD, it is 42% for 50k-320k USD. US has the highest rate of 37% for income above 600k USD. It is not that Germany has free social net. It is that you are paying for it and some people abuse the system.

[@TheAlmaward]

I love how you admit you don't know what the terms mean, but then try to correct the video's explanation. Excellent. Truly. *rolls eyes*

[@noadlor]

That's decades of brainwashing.

[@wozzablog]

@@noadloryup

[@stevenburgess2856]

It's called 'Social Democracy ' in the UK. We see things like health care etc the same way as the police, fire service etc.

[@kutska8132]

Yeah its not the same as 'Democratic Socialism'.

[@ballyhoo]

The words "Social" and "Socialism" are not interchangeable; the are *not* same thing. 'Social Democracy' has nothing whatsoever to do with Socialism. Also the term 'Democratic Socialism' makes about as much sense as 'Democratic Fascism'.

[@carlgrove8793]

@@ballyhoo The "democratic" label is never used in the UK. There is just socialism and its alternatives, conservatism and liberal.

[@JackdotC]

​@@ballyhooso did you not watch the video or what?

[@tinytank6642]

But social democrats in the UK still call themselves socialists. Most Labour politicians call themselves socialist not social democrat.

[@sidewalkere]

In Europe, Bernie would be seen as a centrist. Left leaning in some countries, right leaning in some others, but essentially a centrist. Like any politician with real power should be.

[@fredrichenning1367]

I left the USA over 50 years ago when I figured out the democratic socialism is WAY ahead of the US brand of "partial-democratic capitalism".

[@AndreiTupolev]

I like the way he says "Socialism" the way that you might if you'd found something unpleasant on the bottom of your shoe.

[@spursgog835]

Ensuring your citizens are healthy and educated is an economic as well as a social imperative.

[@solentbum]

Something that the current government in the UK has forgotten

[@samirSch]

No, its an excuse for politicians to take people money and create corruption schemes. Why don't they provide a "foodcare" first? People get sick sometimes, but they need to eat everyday. How about you let a bunch of useless bureaucrats take care of your meals?

[@jelle_smid]

"Democratic socialism" is how a North American person would call it. Most europeans call this political view "social democracy" or "social democratic politics"

[@Spacemarine81]

In Germany Bernie would probably be in the social democratic party which is the centerleft and actually governing in Germany. A few month ago, Bernie was in Germany meeting german politicans and climate activists.

[@RevPeterTrabaris]

Great video, Ryan. I hope that you will delve further into this. Peace

[@perer005]

Ryan, I think it's better if you just abandon using socialism and say what you actually mean. The word is as subjective in the US discourse as terms like feminism. If you have a policy or decision in government it can be more pro worker or more pro investor, when people talk about socialist they typically mean that policies lean more worker/collectivist and not that the whole system should be upended and capitalism removed. Regarding corruption, you should make a video about why Northern Europe is less corrupt than other places.

[@maxmoore9955]

It's called Looking after your people believe in Educating and the health of your Society.

[@davidmalarkey1302]

Of which America does nothing of the kind

[@PhilipTait-oi2hm]

As always, thanks for your display of intelligence and the desire to learn.

[@mirandaROMYN]

I listened to all primary debates. It gives me insight to the minds of Americans.

[@grandmothergoose]

The most functional social democracies are the ones where the government owns and controls certain industries that supply basic human NEEDS, such as lifesaving and preventative health care, basic childhood education, basic public housing, basic welfare, electricity supply, and water supply, keeping prices for these basic human needs low using mass purchase power and taxes; and leaves everything else to the free market to compete over, with regulations and laws keeping things safe and good for workers, customers, the environment, etc. It allows for cheaper public healthcare and schooling whilst still allowing private healthcare and private education systems to exist. It allows companies power to negotiate pay and benefits with workers within limits that don't allow them to force their workers into unsafe conditions and poverty wages. It allows companies to do what they need to do in order to be productive, without allowing them to destroy the environment and make it unsafe in the process. It's the best of both worlds. Everyone's most basic needs are covered, but it you want more, you're going to have to pay for it, work for it, and compete for it. Of course, this wouldn't likely work in the USA, because it tends to innately stop the balance of wealth from getting too heavily tipped towards the most wealthy. People can still get very very rich, they're just less likely to be able to exploit and monopolise everything to become insanely rich, resulting in more millionaires, but less multi-billionaires. The billionaires of the USA aren't likely to allow that sort of system to function, because they want to keep all the control to themselves.

[@carlgrove8793]

And this was pretty well how it was in the UK before Mrs Thatcher's era, when many public utilities were sold off to the rich to make even more money out of.

[@noadlor]

Elon Musk comes to mind.

[@Pedgo1986]

Name three those counturies

[@MrSeedi76]

​@@Pedgo1986Germany used to be like this. Public transport, water supply, energy, postal services, all used to be state owned. Then, interestingly for the most part under the rule of the "social democratic party" (who are just as much a bunch of corrupt bastards as any other party) the sellout of tax paid institutions began with the argument, "if we privatize, there will be competition and prices will drop". Of course none of that ever happened because a state owned public energy and water supply sector reinvests the money and even makes certain things cheaper, but privately owned companies take the money to pay their shareholders. So everything got more expensive and quality diminished. That's what we get from "privatization" of essential infrastructure.

[@mikkomalinen2641]

Finland, Denmark and Norway.@@Pedgo1986

[@black4pienus]

Bernie would've gotten my vote. He sounds most reasonable to me. I said this to an American fb friend and his response was: "I bet you smoke weed." Eh ok.

[@noadlor]

Americans have been brainwashed for decades to hate anything that resembles helping others.

[@jennyh4025]

😂 that reaction!

[@TheKhalamar]

Another major difference in EU countries is that (almost) none of them has only two parties like the US. Governments are formed by alliances between 2, 3, sometimes 4 different parties, and the median moves over time. There are periods when a country is a bit more to the right, or a bit more to the left. I don't think there's a country that has a socialist majority these days, but there are still elected socialist (or even some communist) representatives in most countries.

[@tigusvidiks728]

of course there is. Portugal had an elected socialist goverment for the last 2 terms. Probably going to change next sunday.-

[@wolf1066]

Welcome to the list, Ryan. Just remember to occasionally say "Hi" to whichever agency is likely to be listening in so they don't feel unappreciated.

[@venetoaward]

Only way to keep corruption down is transparency and control through consumers organizations. Cheers from Venice Italy

[@samirSch]

Only way to keep corruption down is not giving politicians power, exactly the opposite of what socialist morons defend.

[@2727rogers]

All of the democratic developed countries outside the USA have had their versions of Bernie Sanders decades ago. So we saw that when Bernie was running for president. For me being a Canadian I could see a lot of Tommy Douglas in what Bernie was saying. FYI Tommy Douglas was the first politician who fought for universal health care here in Canada . In a 2004 online vote he was picked as the Greatest Canadian ever.

[@noadlor]

Yes. There is a great story about his life and why this was important to him.

[@jenlawoulu]

Bernie Sanders' older brother lives in the UK and was the Green Party spokesperson for Health for years.

[@BennoWitter]

A good example for a real socialist company within a democracy is the Spanish "Mondragon Corporation". It has 70,000 employees, they turn over 10,600M€ and the whole thing is owned by the workers.

[@Anoriellreacts]

When the original video has switched the Swedish flag and the Icelandic flag... I was like what did I just see.... 🤣🤣🤣

[@2727rogers]

Yes a worker alliance could be a union but could also be a Co-Op. That is where the employees own and run the business.

[@M0UAW_IO83]

Oh yeah, relatives of mine who live in Texas deride the UK's healthcare as communist because, as non UK residents, they were asked to pay for the treatment and medication they received when they were in the UK for a couple of months, but, here's the kicker, the bill was lower than their monthly health insurance and if they'd been UK citizens then the treatment would have been free.

[@Draugo]

One of the stupidities of moving from government owned infrastructure to privately owned infrastructure is that it will always cost more. For example in Finland we sold our government owned electricity infrastructure to a, honestly very dodgy investment group for X amount. In the next couple of years we had already paid to said investment group more than X amount for usage of the infrastructure and prices have increased steadily every year. Short term gain for long term loss.

[@ddguitars1969]

Same as the UK...

[@zenonorth1193]

Always nice when people get a clearer idea of what socialism is, as opposed to having a knee-jerk reaction to the term.

[@tyttiMK]

People who know what socialism is will have a "knee-jerk reaction" to it.

[@samirSch]

Socialism is an excuse to give the small elite that runs the state, this little arrogant aristocracy, the excuse they need to control both the economy/production and the laws, and have everyone bow to them so they can eat. An excuse to create a mass of dependent slaves.

[@pascalnitsche8746]

The political spectrum in the US compared to most of Europe is kinda skewed to the right. What in the US is a very "left" policy in Europe would mostly be a "right" or "centrist" position. For example: Free or Affordable Education, Healthcare and the like even our right wing parties support - There are differences in what they think in the details but the existence of those policies is a broad consensus while in the US they are hot topics.

[@DaGuys470]

Do we watch the debates? Yes, with a healthy mixture of shock and confusion.

[@mabus4910]

Worker alliances are different from unions. Unions combine workers interests, fight for their rights, negotiate with companies and provide legal council. Worker alliances group together to own and manage a company/factory. Imagine your local supermarket owned and managed by the staff or by people elected by the staff.

[@michalandrejmolnar3715]

Yes, we watch presidential debates. I love Bernie as a European..

[@Nikioko]

The term changes because even the Americans are starting to realize what it actually means by taking a look at other countries.

[@truxton1000]

No they don’t really, Americans seem to not understand at all what a democracy actually mean. Not a modern democracy, as they seem to think a democracy has to be a carbon copy of Ancient Greece.

[@samirSch]

@@truxton1000 "Democracy" is nothing but the dictatorship of the majority. Usually a stupid majority manipulated by a small, powerful and rich elite. Like Soros and his celebrity pawns convincing the dumbfked populace that eating cows will make the planet melt, while themselves go around in private jets.

[@sephas79]

“Somehow tabu”, “I might be put on a list”, “I might be being watched”. That’s the kind of feeling on the Land of the Free???

[@martinemartin4779]

You know, one of the biggest problems here, is that Americans in general love to put a label on everything and give it a "defintion" e.g. gender, race, governmental styles. The problem with this, is that the world isn't in the 1950s any more, and what was appropriate back then, not longer fits. The world and it's ideologies has grown and changed. I think the US has had the red/blue governance too long. I wonder what it would be like if a big change happened...

[@noadlor]

And the right wing party wants to go back to the fifties, take rights away from women, LGBTQ+, ethnics, run the government like a church, choose who can vote, only run state run news, take away workers rights, get rid of healthcare and seniors security, etc. AND people will be dumb enough to vote for this in 2024.

[@alecbrown66]

Well done for being open and educating yourself

[@zergbergerdelemon9634]

Alright, I wouldn't normally comment on a video like this, but this guy seems genuinely interest in learning and does't seem to have a giant toxic fanbase so I'll give it a shot. I really like the video but it has some common although more honest than usual misconceptions of terms that it would be helpful work through. What does capitalist, socialist, and communist mean? the easiest to define is capitalist, but we first we gotta define "the means of production" (MOP) the means of production (MOP) are the parts, machines, copyright, and anything else that goes into making a product like food or cars. capitalism is when "capitalists" (ie investors) own the MOP. In most modern cases that means investors own the company, it's machines, the products it makes, and any money that selling the products makes. Communism and socialism are a bit more muddled, originally in the communist mannifesto communism is when "the people" own the MOP, and originally socialism meant a step between capitalism and communism where the government temporarily took ownership of the MOP and managed it on behalf of the people until it was turned over to more direct democratic control. no I did not switch the two, originally this is where the terms come from. So what happened? Vladimir Lenin. He lead the Russian revolution, but due to the violence and trauma he became disillusioned with the idea of communism and implemented the system we are now familiar with from the U.S.S.R. He did not call that system socialism or communism, and instead he called it "state capitalism" regarding it as not even socialist. Many marxists like myself consider the U.S.S.R. "state capitalism" because the government does not and did not give ownership or control of the means of production to the people, either directly or indirectly. Then Lenin died, and Stalin took power. When he did so, he declared the system in Russia full communism and decided it didn't need any more refinement. This is how Communism came to mean the government controlling stuff. Since (at that point) those terms were now about whether the government or investors made the decisions (leaving "the people" out in both cases) and not about ownership of MOP there was no longer a real difference between socialism and communism and for a while they were considered the same thing. With the recent rise in popularity and the failure of soviet economics there has been a push to redraw the line between the two leading to the understanding that communism is the government controlling things and socilaism is the government controlling some stuff and investors owning other things, a hybrid system. This is not helpful or what I and many others support, I believe that instead of total ownership over the whole economy the workers should own and control the company they work for, and vote for the decisions the company makes, as well as voting for their leaders. We have democracy in government (sort of maybe), why shouldn't we have democracy at our jobs, where we spend mostof our lives. That would be communism to me. Anyway if anyone is reading this still thanks for listening and I hope that clarifies things for some of you. Have a great day!

[@Sofasurfa]

You make some really excellent points. Having said that the main downfall of any equalising system is the resentment that builds when excellence is not recognised or rewarded. One also has to take into account the human tendency towards a me and mine first mentality. We would all like for everyone to have plenty but in truth how many are prepared to sacrifice for others outside of our own ‘tribe’ ? The issue has always been when a good idea is subsumed by corruption and/or disillusionment. There will always be someone ready to argue that running anything by committee needs to have a ‘leader’ else how will anything get done. Thus we elect officials to run, the country, region, town and so on. Then some officials seem to become more ‘effective’ than others and develop a coterie of followers and before you know it you are heading down the road toward dictatorship. Sadly there is no ideal solution because we are not an ideal species. The human race, in spite of being an intelligent free thinking species seems to totter from one measure of idiocy to another and although this means we war, these qualities of arrogance, greed, and selfishness coupled with an inherent self belief in our superiority in the world is what constantly moves are development forward. Though I am not always sure if this is a good thing.

[@zergbergerdelemon9634]

@@Sofasurfa The total equality thing is something I'm not a follower of, it doesn't seem to be popular among leftist thinkers either. The only people I can think of who regularly stan for total equality are the postmodernists and we really shouldn't take them seriously, they mostly just come up with shocking positions to elevate themselves. I don't totally understand what point you're trying to make near the end, except that we tend towards war. But capitalist and "communist" (systems that call themselves communist even though they aren't as I explained), both tend towards war and domination. I am not trying to write a prescription for society but simply inform people what communism and socialism actually mean. I view historical progress through the lens of dialectical materialism, that capitalism is a thesis, anticapitalism is it's antithesis and we are waiting on the synthesis of those ideas that's being stunted through misinformation and political repression.

[@Sofasurfa]

@@zergbergerdelemon9634 To be fair I have completely forgotten the point I was trying to make. But then that tends to happen when you chance upon a comment after you have been out enjoying Christmas cheer with a few friends. I think I was probably trying to say that the philosophies of Marx and Engels will only work when man ceases to be self interested. I am a cynic and I do not believe that a selfless person exists, that there is no such thing as true altruism. And if you look at Marx’s theory of historical materialism I would say that the western world is currently stuck in capitalism, especially the US who seem to have evolved a particularly aggressive form of capitalism. I worry that the UK is becoming more like the US and less like Europe. But I digress, what the American people saw as communism in the USSR was never what Marx envisioned what occurred in USSR and China was the cult of personality, Leninism, Stalinism and Maoism which was a corruption of Marx’s idea of the sixth stage of human development global stateless communism. Wonderful state for the world to exist in but we have a long, long way to go before we evolve into a species that could achieve this. Sorry gone of on a wander again and forgotten my point. That is what happens when one becomes a grumpy old woman. You have a great day. 😁

[@zergbergerdelemon9634]

@@Sofasurfa Ah, no worries I hear ya. I agree people need to develop before we will see this better world. You are spot on about the US and UK, and as an American DO NOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT! It's much worse than it looks on tv or across the pond. Lastly as a grumpy (kinda) young man I feel obligated to respect your wandering. Especially as someone who occasionally imbibes some christmas cheer myself. You have a great day too mam, don't let the tories getcha

[@Sofasurfa]

@@zergbergerdelemon9634 Merry Christmas 👍🏻

[@stigandrmyrardalur5208]

In Europe Sanders is seen as a moderate conservative, not a socialist

[@samirSch]

And that's why Europe is such a fked up place destined to be taken by Sharia and have its local populace replaced.

[@raidensergi2378]

As an European. The difference between socialism and capitalism is the influence of state(government/politicians). The capitalism Foster the free market the "freedom". While socialism is give all the control to the state/government/politicians. The socialdemocracy, in contrast, is respecting free market and companies try to reduce the unequality by helping more with social spendings. The centre-left. The democratic socialism as we know in Europe we link with democratic communism. More power to state/government/politicians more regulation to the market, more social spendings... The authoritarian left.

[@fabienvandriessche2388]

Part of the word socialism says it all, to be social. The problem is, the richer people (company’s, enterprises and even individuals) get, the more they hate to be social.

[@tyttiMK]

No, socialism is an economic system.

[@samirSch]

@@tyttiMK No, it's not. Capitalism and survivalism are economic systems. Socialism is a political regime. There were excess production in socialist countries, thus the accumulation of capital. But they destroyed Free Market (the other political regime) and embrace socialism, which consists of the small political elite deciding what to do with that excess production. And guess what...when its centered on the hands of the elite, they'll use it for their own benefit...people can starve to death, for all they care. And they did starve to death.

[@kylemenos]

Thats exactly why you have coorporations paying politicians to make sure they mention how unamerican it is to give money to poor people.

[@samirSch]

@@kylemenos Americans are vastly christians. Christians are taught charity. Now giving money to poor people...whose money? Money the government stole from the productive part of society, and then use it to gain the poor's favor and then advance their personal agendas of power and control? Or money printed that causes inflation, which is the same as a hidden tax? We have nothing against giving money to the poor...as long it's YOUR money, not others' stolen money.

[@bearofthunder]

In Norway today Bernie would fit straight into the middle of our political scale. Partly because anybody threatening the social safetynet quickly becomes unpopular. If you should come across right wing norwegian politicians, notice how they use terms as "freedom of choise" to classify the social safety arrangements into different services and by that undermine the whole system. Differenciations and "freedom to choose" who provides social services can be applied under certain conditions, but if youi let the the capitalists get into it it just becomes a way to give big capital direct access to taxpayer money. So the conditions must be no profits to the owners, and the money goes to the workers, administration and material conditions of the service. If there are any profits they must be used to upgrade the service short or long term, equal bonus to all workers, or given back to the government. Given these conditions the government can guarantee funding, so you can relax about that in running your private business, giving kindergarten servces. Kindergarten services is currently a got topic in Norway, because capitalists have found a way to play around with the money to siphen off profits. Now the politicians are grappling with it, as most people don't like their tax money ending up in rich peoples pockets this way. Right wing parties prefer not to think about it, maybe because they have a daugter who are ready to marry and need to find someone rich to join with. To get more rich people you have to let some people build up their fortunes....well, trying to say something humorous, but the point is that the right wingers are less concerned about such things, while they loose sleep over a poor person getting anything extra, fearing they may loose their motivation to work for the rich. Sometimes they even seem to think that disabled people will get fit to work if their conditions just gets more horrible.

[@truxton1000]

Bernie Sanders would be more like Norwegian Hoire, with elements of FrP.

[@kimmeijer5012]

I am from the netherlands and recently Bernie Sanders came to the netherlands to promote his book and talk to some politicians, but he also did an interview on the avondshow with arjan lubach and one thing they discussed was that his ideas would not be that radical here and while he would be on the left of our political spectrum he would definetely not be on the far left. They called him a regular frans timmermans who is from the green labour party. Also thought it was intersting that he was asked what the alternative to capitalism would be and just answered by saying that he was against übercapitalism while i think here he could have said socialism without too much backlash.

[@jesskar]

They don’t show entire debates on tv here, at least in Germany, but there is this social media platform on this interweb thing, where all debates are available and sometimes even streamed live. I think it called something like tube.

[@matshjalmarsson3008]

Funny that they mixed up Sweden and Iceland...

[@mikkitoro8933]

And Norway and Denmark.

[@lillia5333]

Usian education : )

[@user-sy5wj2ln9u]

@@mikkitoro8933 I was looking for the comment om Sweden and Iceland, but thank you for my second loud laugh when I had to dubble check Denmark and Norway and just: Woooah 🤯😂 Well - lucky fins I guess 😉

[@benktlofgren4710]

Bernie and AOC would fit very well in Europe.

[@jennyh4025]

@@LalaDepala00that may be, but when you look part that, she‘d fit right in.

[@jenspettersen7837]

*Social democracy* is a democracy with social policies to give everyone good opportunities to succeed in life and help people through difficult times like when they're unemployed, sick and so on. *Democratic socialism* is when the means of production is owned by society as a whole and it is steered through polling the public.

[@loboclaud]

It's not Democratic Socialism but Social Democracy, I believe. At least in Portugal, where I live. It's mind-boggling that Americans hear the word "social" and immediately think of "socialism" or "communism".

[@bolajibadejo7422]

In Europe Bernie Sanders and his policies would be obsolete. Every or almost every European country already has universal healthcare, free or almost free education and decent minimum income with strong social support.

[@SomeRandomGuy499]

I'm from Poland. Our politics is heavily right-leaning (although as a whole spectrum maybe not as right-leaning as in the USA). In general, ideologies of our political parties range from extreme far right to centre-left, so the centre-right politics are usually seen as centrist and centre-left as far left. But even in this context, there's this meme when we're mocking extreme far right by saying that "socialism is when the government does things", cause that's what they (and basically nobody else) are unironically saying, although not always so bluntly. Seeing someone from the USA, who doesn't seem to be far right, unironically defining socialism in this exact way, is really eye-opening on how exactly far right leaning is the public consensus in the US

[@samirSch]

But this is exactly the definition of socialism, duh. The government interfering in the free market. The amount of intervention defines the degree of socialism, and as empirism has shown us, the higher degrees of socialism, the more fked up is a country. You, like everyone else here seems to think because your countries have some assistencialism its the same as being socialist.

[@sbjchef]

we vote for things we want our whole society to benefit from, military, education, water, healthcare etc

[@andyhorvath6630]

Basically, democratic socialism means caring for each other … No one is left out, no one is left out on the street, no one is left to go broke because they got sick. We all pay a little for the common good every month, but we also all share the benefit of this communal support

[@truxton1000]

Well not that no one is left out, but that as few as possible is left out. Even in the best social democratic countries in the world some people are not really well cared for. The reason for this is that social care is a bottomless pit, no matter how much money is thrown at people there will always be many people that will point at problems that is still nowhere near “solved”.

[@andyhorvath6630]

@@truxton1000 you’re right of course, there will always be some people that fall between the lines or who don’t want to be helped. But luckily, I don’t see tents in the streets with homeless people over here …

[@truxton1000]

@@andyhorvath6630 No that’s because the social structures are better, more efficient and better funded. But even if you find tents with homeless in parts of USA it does not mean they totally lack socialist structures.

[@markusolofzon]

The Nordic countries can be said to be social democracies but more importantly they apply what is known as the Nordic Model which consists of a large welfare state combined with a very open economy. It also promotes state ownership over natural resources like oil in Norway or Iron ore in Sweden thus creating a steady income for the state. The state however does not control the business which control the resources, it’s set up like any business and is expected to maximize profits, the state just owns it. The same goes for government agencies. They are independent but funded by the state and do what they do on assignment from the government. The agencies however are not businesses. They are expected to provide their services whoever are in government. It’s confusing I know.

[@somerandomvertebrate9262]

Those are great systems. Unfortunately, mass migration is in the process of making mincemeat of the Nordic Model, especially in Sweden. And that's thanks to the short-sightedness of democracy and the irresponsibility of the career politicians it fosters.

[@markusolofzon]

@@somerandomvertebrate9262 that’s not really relevant to a description of what the Nordic model is.

[@samirSch]

@@somerandomvertebrate9262 Those are such great systems. Finland and Sweden are stagnated for years, sustaning themselves on the wealth their built in previous decades before their little socialist adventures, while Norway has a strict closed border policy so their little population of 5mi people can drown on the riches of the very wealth oil industry. But yeah, such a model to be followed, specially by countries like the US with constant immigration and 320mi habs...

[@somerandomvertebrate9262]

@@markusolofzon No, it's relevant to how it is getting destroyed.

[@somerandomvertebrate9262]

@@samirSch The welfare state requires a high trust society, in practice an ethnically homogenous society. That's probably why it could never be fully established in the United States, although there were attempts when America was at a maximum level of ethno-cultural homogenity, like the Great Society in the 1960's. The huge inflow of culturally incompatible populations completely destroys the Swedish welfare state right now. If you want immigration, forget about it! You can either have a quasi-socialist welfare state or you can have multi-culturalism, but you cannot have both.

[@user-gt2ud2gw9e]

I don't think we need to get bogged down with technical titles which mean little and only put fear in people. Basically, all we're looking for is making sure the poorest in society don't have to live in tent cities and if they get ill, they won't die in the streets. Everything else stays the same. In my opinion, a much bigger threat to inequality is from multi million dollar conglomerates while the small business owner strives hard to offer a more personalised service in the face of big bucks monopolies.

[@DNA350ppm]

Yes, you love to learn, Ryan, and you are very open-minded which is what tintelligent people are. There are political science definitions of "socialism" (the state owns the means of production) and the next stage communism (in principle nothing valuable is privately owned, but owned together - a bit blurry to visualize). But then in the USA there are unspecific usages of the terms in everyday debate contexts.

[@AussieTVMusic]

We have to decide what type of country we want. You get what you deserve. So go vote.

[@ryttyr14]

Me trying to stay calm about the fact that they mixed up Sweden and Iceland's flags. They probably didn't do it on purpose, they probably mean nothing by it, calm down, it was probably just an earnest mistake.

[@CabinFever52]

Probably an honest mistake, too.

[@MichaelTheDane]

The Danish and Norwegian to, 4 out of 5 wrong, not bad 😂

[@ryttyr14]

@@MichaelTheDane Oh shit! I missed that XD

[@larstveiten4164]

What about the rest?...... 🇧🇻😎😎🇧🇻

[@ryttyr14]

@@larstveiten4164 The others I didn't notice until after posting that comment.

[@JohnDoe-us5rq]

I usually try to avoid either of the primaries. But Bernie is OK social media 😃 I always think of Bernie as a voice of reason within a cacophony of screaming.

[@jezlawrence720]

The way americans use the word socialism is varied. Some use it to mean "something the govt provides or wants to provide, or taxes or wants to tax, that i don't like". Others use it to mean "anything the govt provides", others use it because they think it means communism. Its only academics and active centrists / political experts who seem to ever use it non negatively or to talk about degrees. Its about a balance, but that doesnt always mean halfway - it depends on how heavy the weight is on either end of the seesaw. All major advanced economies have some mix of capitalist and socialist policies. Its purely a question of degree of safety net vs market/personal freedom. Having a military or police or road network funded by the taxpayer is a socialist policy, for instance. That doesn't mean a given country runs on social*ism*.

[@latjolajban81]

Most European countries would be considered social democracies in my opinion.

[@ravanpee1325]

The first social security system in Germany was established by a conservative, nobel, monarchist aka Otto von Bismarck

[@latjolajban81]

@@ravanpee1325 Aaaand your point is?

[@ravanpee1325]

@@latjolajban81 That your political affiliation "social democratic" has nothing to do with the economic system e.g. Social Market Economy in Germany. Our social security system in Germany was established by conservative/center-right politicians in the 1880s. It's a joke to call this socialism when Bismarck and Co were monarchists

[@latjolajban81]

@@ravanpee1325 Social democracy is not socialism.

[@ravanpee1325]

@@latjolajban81 I know that but of course even the Social Democratic parties have their roots in the worker movement of the 19th century..but that doesn't mean that they implemented our social system. The first Sickness Insurance Law is from 1883, Accident Insurance Law of 1884, Old Age and Disability Insurance Law of 1889

[@magnusnrregaard2179]

You should try watching a video about what actual socialism is all about, Second Thought has a really good video about it.

[@tyttiMK]

So they tell about all the suffering socialism has caused, about the millions of people who have starved to death because of socialist policies, the poverty and shortages people living in socialist dictatorships have to deal with?

[@larsegholmfischmann6594]

I "second" that thought ;)

[@tyttiMK]

@@larsegholmfischmann6594 I guess if you want to hear socialist propaganda and BS that's a great video. Funny how they make it sound so great but in the real world socialism has killed millions of people, anyway...

[@lillia5333]

​@@tyttiMKYou must be a Usian. And you didn't watch the video, did you? It's funny how some of you people advertise your ignorance😂

[@tyttiMK]

@@lillia5333 No, I'm not, I actually KNOW what socialism is, and I have seen it in action. But of course if you like poverty, shortages and even famines, not to mention living under a dictatorship, then socialism is a great ideology for you! :D After all it has working so well in Venezuela! LOL!

[@michalandrejmolnar3715]

Agreed, it should be a crime when politicians dont fulfill their promises. Direct democracy

[@lbergen001]

USA politics is all about money, what do you expect in capitalist country? Politicians are not fulfilling their promises, but their next election.

[@user-xi6nk4xs4s]

The problem with Direct democracy is that you assume that people who vote know at least the basics of what they are voting on. Every election again, no matter what country we're talking about, this is proven not to be the case.

[@samirSch]

@@user-xi6nk4xs4s And the problem with representative democracy is that you assume the fkers people elect will represent them and not whoever bribes them first. The only fair and working system is Free Market. You vote with your wallet and you decide who deserves your trust/money and if you feel betrayed you can sue them for fraud and stop giving your money to them immediately.

[@user-xi6nk4xs4s]

​ @samirSch LOL How stupid can you be. Not much voting with your wallet when you're talking about essential things. The free market is all right for nice to have things, not for need to have.

[@kingofdj6520]

Bernie is very conservative for European standards

[@nicolasdenis7094]

Basically the base thought of socialism can be described as “the strongest shoulders carry the heaviest loads”. Don’t mix it with communism, that’s something totally different.

[@rogerstarkey5390]

A mistake made by many in the US.

[@DB-stuff]

Love your journey in comparing the US system with mostly European countries. I thought the video was very good and i do find Americans caught up with really negative connotations around words, its action that are important not trigger words big business, and certain politicians use to scare you. I have to say Bernie Sanders would be considered by me in Scotland as most definitely right of centre but a fantastic politician.

[@Draktand01]

Thanks for learning this!

[@juliadolker9854]

We often understand communisim - socialism - democratic socialism, social democracy as a spectrum but it doesn't always add up. The french "left-wing" party calls itself socialist, the German Social Democratic, but the French one is no less democratic. Lenin's party was called "social democratic" but we, today wouldn't understand them as democratic. The SPD has long been the "social democratic party", but until not too long ago their party manifesto stated that they are the "party of democratic socialism" and that the aim of democratic socialism was to achive and conserve freedom, equality and solidarity (while at the same time there was another Party of Democratic Socialism = PDS). In soviet jargon, the transitional period, when revolution has removed the capitalist system, but couter revolution is still active and people haven't adapted to communism yet - was called socialism. At the same time, a lot of "socialist policies" mentioned in the video, were introduced by a conservative government, who wanted to a) implement Christian values into politics, b) make captitalism work even better. Socialism (or any other ideology) is more of a philosphy. We all want freedom, democracy, prosperity, but it depends how these things are defined and also how humans capabilities to exercise those freedoms, ect. are understood. Take democracy for example. We generally think democracy means that the constitution is designed in such a way that everyone has the same formal oportunities to participate in politics through competitive elections. From a socialist perspective one could argue, as long as there is poverty, not everyone has the same oportunites, because when your main concern is how to feed your family, you won't have the spare time to get involved in politics (And that is even before considering the resources needed for an election campaign). From this perspective, re-distributing wealth is the first step towards democracy. Can this be done within the capitalist system, even though the poor are structurally disadvantated in democratical representation? European democratic socialists believe yes, but more hardline communists would argue that the whole system is designed in such a way that the poor will never truely be in a position to participate in politics, not least because the rich controll the media and brainwash the electorate and the only way to realise democracy is to seize controll by revolution and turn around the power pyramid. Communists, too think that they are democrats, the idea of marxism is that people will be so free as they had never been before, they won't even need state organs, because when everyone lives equal, they will naturally do the right things for the community, but not until the conditioning towards greed, competition and exploitation is still within the people, so a transitional period of "dictatorship of the proletariat" is neccessary to recondition people to see how much better socialism is....Today, most understand that this way of thinking is to positivistic and does not really work. But then "capitalist democracy" doesn't work as intended, neither. In the USA, candidates at every level have to invest their private wealth, you can't even become a city councilor if you are not rich. How are they going to introduce policies that benefit the majority? Then, whoever won this battle of material within his own party can run for presidency, but a presidential election costs 1 billion dollar and the only way to mass this money is through cooperate funding, but the co-operates want something in return for it, so the cycle of policy for the richt will never end. Then people have the choice between two candidates (in an election system where all votes that don't go towards the strongest candidate are discarded) who are both committed to capitalist co-operations. They don't really represent anyone except maybe the top 0.1% but to make the impression that they are the "people's candiate", they have to put on a big act on every television channel for over a year , which makes the campaign even more expensive and exclusive.

[@rogerstarkey5390]

It's a "Political clock face", not a "Political spectrum". . Autocracy sits at 12....... And 10 minutes either side... Pick left or Right it's just as bad.

[@Ronnet]

Im from outside the USA and I watched Bernie debate. The USA would've been in a much better place now had the USA voted for him. In the end of the day in a democracy you get the leaders you deserve.

[@jennyh4025]

Only in a functioning democracy. The USA is usually considered a flawed democracy (the electoral system has quite big flaws and some other things aren’t good as well).

[@samirSch]

Funny thing how 9 in 10 immigrants want to live in the US but you still think Europe, where most proeminent countries like France, were people are always rebelling or Germany where people are leaving to poor places like Paraguay, are superior to the US...

[@kristianpoulherkild3401]

Bernie Sanders would have been a disaster, on par with Joe Biden or Obama. Trump is not much better but at least his election would scare european politicians into funding defense properly. Remember, the leftwing represents tyranny and oppression and opposition to fundamental human rights.

[@francoisleyrat8659]

For Americans, "socialism" is simply the last stop before the gulag.

[@karinland8533]

🤣

[@truxton1000]

Still USA have A LOT of socialist structures in their country, for example, military, public education, public health, infrastructure like roads etc, policing, fire departments and much more, ALL socialist structures. Capitalism drives the economy forward, socialist structures makes is civilised…

[@eurorpeen]

Socialism is NOT about government or politics or party. It s a way of life where you share the available ressources in between those who need it. Social democracy is a political alignment

[@truxton1000]

Well it’s what makes a country civilised, all western countries have LOADS of socialist structures.

[@EtheRenard]

I think Bernie Sanders would be seen as a centrist. He has progressive ideas, but the economic system he believes in is still very capitalistic. I went from France to Canada, and I was very surprised when I knew that to check your judicial records, you go to a private company to scan your fingers. In France, only a public administration would be able to do that. I think this video shows socialism from a capitalist mindset "The government owns you, beware if it's corrupted", but from a socialist point of view, capitalism is "The money owns you, beware if the monetary system is flawed".

[@jipster2020]

As a Brit living in the USA (for over 9 years), I still hear socialist/socialism being misused a lot, but then I live in the Midwest in a state where Fox News is considered fact. I've been called a socialist when I've been asked and then voiced my opinion on the USA, and mentioned the US health care system is appalling. Sorry folks, it does suck - pay or die is not health care... It's a legalised extortion racket ! What is actually bizarre is that the US does have socialised healthcare, called Medicare/Medicaid. What is even more bizarre is that the US spends MORE per capita on taxes for Medicare/Medicaid than the UK does per person to fund the whole NHS, except every legal resident in the UK has access to it free of charge (apart from the taxes bit). Brits do pay way more in taxes though, but that's not down to healthcare - it's down to the Government being a bunch of clueless and incompetent morons who couldn't organise their way out of a one way street.

[@thecritic81]

Germany have had several Social Democratic governments

[@MrSeedi76]

True, and often the politics they made were far from being "social" at all. Just like the "Christian Democratic Union" (CDU) has nothing "Christian" about it but is a purely capitalistic conservative right leaning party with little to no interest in Christianity. Only if it suits them to instill fear into voters against minorities so they keep voting for them.

[@cabritsanscorgaming]

In Belgium, Bernie would definitely be right-wing/conservative.

[@barriehull7076]

Q. How do you stop corruption. A. A wall and blindfold might give you a clue. OK, a bit drastic I guess.

[@Awesomemomy]

I like Bernie Sanders. He would be a great "official advisor to the President"... In my opinion he is one of the few "older" politicians, who have not lost touch with the "modern times". He hears the worries, needs and fears of the youngers generation and, above all, takes them seriously. Many others of his generation may kinda listen, but then dismiss it as "overreactions from frightened and ignorant young people, who lack life experience and therefore, don't need to be taken seriously."