[harry chickpea]

Jim was the only politician I ever actively volunteered to work for. Good man. I still remember addressing those mail-outs.

[Boston_Burbs]

Originally Posted by Magic Qwan

I'm essentially a Social Democrat, but I think all firms should be worker co-ops, so worker-owned enterprises make up the market instead of exploitive traditional capitalist firms.

In a way, my ideology is the child of:

https://polcompball.fandom.com/wiki/Social_Democracy

and

https://polcompball.fandom.com/wiki/...rket_Socialism

and

https://polcompball.fandom.com/wiki/...atic_Socialism

I seriously doubt diversity is a genuine problem for social democratic policies. Race is only skin-deep, after all. Geneologically speaking, I'm 1/8 Choctaw Native, 4/8 German, and 3/8 English. I'm a white-passing mixed race male, and live in a majority black area. I'm also asexual and aromantic, so I'm LGBT, as well. I think class divides people far more than race does, and racism is just a symptom of classism. Think about it, most people who care about skin tone or physical characteristics are doing so because they are coding somebody who looks different from themselves as either higher or lower class. Remove class, and racism should be removed, too, at least to the extent class is removed.

It absolutely has something to do with it.

The much loved Scandinavian countries treat immigrants very poorly and their system works because everyone it pretty much related.

[ctr88]

Whether Bernie is been good or bad for VT is hard to say. Because many people go to congress in DC really as a platform for their political demagoguery & greater political ambitions vs. really doing anything for their respective states.

Things I like about Bernie are his stances on campaign finance reform, getting rid of lobbyists influence, going after "crony" capitalism, and being anti war. Four things he shares with a guy I like a lot more, Ron Paul. Ron Paul and Bernie have a lot in common, except Bernie is a socialist and Ron a capitalist (ie REAL capitalism...not crony capitalism). And I do think Bernie is a good person (which I do not think of all politicians).

But I'm a small gov't/low tax/free markets/freedom/liberty/personal responsibility/states rights, etc... type person. So I would never vote for Bernie and can't get behind all the general socialism, bigger gov't, bigger bureaucracies, and "free everything for everyone". How do you pay for all that stuff when the USA is $25 trillion in debt and even if you taxed every billionaire in the US 100% it wouldn't scratch the surface of the money needed for all the free goodies Bernie has in mind? Have the federal reserve print the money and destroy the value of the currency and create high inflation?

As Margaret Thatcher once said, the problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other peoples money. Or you destroy the currency by printing the money to give everyone free stuff.

[Magic Qwan]

Originally Posted by ctr88

Whether Bernie is been good or bad for VT is hard to say. Because many people go to congress in DC really as a platform for their political demagoguery & greater political ambitions vs. really doing anything for their respective states.

Things I like about Bernie are his stances on campaign finance reform, getting rid of lobbyists influence, going after "crony" capitalism, and being anti war. Four things he shares with a guy I like a lot more, Ron Paul. Ron Paul and Bernie have a lot in common, except Bernie is a socialist and Ron a capitalist (ie REAL capitalism...not crony capitalism). And I do think Bernie is a good person (which I do not think of all politicians).

But I'm a small gov't/low tax/free markets/freedom/liberty/personal responsibility/states rights, etc... type person. So I would never vote for Bernie and can't get behind all the general socialism, bigger gov't, bigger bureaucracies, and "free everything for everyone". How do you pay for all that stuff when the USA is $25 trillion in debt and even if you taxed every billionaire in the US 100% it wouldn't scratch the surface of the money needed for all the free goodies Bernie has in mind? Have the federal reserve print the money and destroy the value of the currency and create high inflation?

As Margaret Thatcher once said, the problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other peoples money. Or you destroy the currency by printing the money to give everyone free stuff.

I know I'd offset the costs of my programs with unilaterally disbanding military bases around the world and pulling our troops home. I'd slash military spending 75% and retire anybody who has been in for 20 years or longer, and honorably discharge anybody who has been in less than 8 years. Single-Payer healthcare will save money compared to our current patchwork of healthcare systems, so single-payer is more about streamlining. Besides the campaign finance reform, anti-lobbying legislation, anti-cronyism work, and anti-war platforms Bernie proposes, universal healthcare that is free at the point of service is very important given insurance companies have distorted the market, patchwork government healthcare is inefficient, and we need to be prepared for the next pandemic by having a surplus of beds at any given time. We should have the healthcare capacity for 100% of our country to be on death's door at once, so we will never need to ration care.

[CatwomanofV]

Originally Posted by Magic Qwan

I know I'd offset the costs of my programs with unilaterally disbanding military bases around the world and pulling our troops home. I'd slash military spending 75% and retire anybody who has been in for 20 years or longer, and honorably discharge anybody who has been in less than 8 years. Single-Payer healthcare will save money compared to our current patchwork of healthcare systems, so single-payer is more about streamlining. Besides the campaign finance reform, anti-lobbying legislation, anti-cronyism work, and anti-war platforms Bernie proposes, universal healthcare that is free at the point of service is very important given insurance companies have distorted the market, patchwork government healthcare is inefficient, and we need to be prepared for the next pandemic by having a surplus of beds at any given time. We should have the healthcare capacity for 100% of our country to be on death's door at once, so we will never need to ration care.

People in the military are eligible to retire at 20 years and most retirees get out at that point. Less will stay in longer.


Cat

[Riley.]

As far as I know, Bernie hasn't done jack for this state.

[ctr88]

I don't think we need single payer. I think it would be another big, bloated, inefficient gov't created program. Why not unleash tech on healthcare to make it much cheaper? Unleash google, amazon, apple, etc.... to drive down costs in health care. Way more telemedicine with Zoom, etc... You could lower prices dramatically by getting rid of the lobbyists in big pharma, health insurance, and much of the red tape that just makes middle men rich, etc... There is so much inefficiency and waste in our healthcare system that could be driven out. I think the libertarian crowd has far better ideas on health care than single payer. It will just be another massively expensive, inefficient, bloated government operation that will drive everyones taxes up more and erode choices and freedom. What has Bernie Sanders ever done or accomplished in life other than "talk" a good game about his theoretical pie in the sky utopian ideas? All based on a bottomless magic money tree of someone else money.