| Jumpin said:
The definition of left and right are pretty subjective in the US. I have found people who have said that Elizabeth Warren is not a leftist. Some claim only Tulsi Gabbard is on the left. Others say only Bernie Sanders is on the left. A large number seem to think Biden is not on the left. It's a bit of a headscratcher to me. Maybe Biden is closer to centrism, but IMO he is clearly on the left. From my POV all of the candidates except maybe that one balding guy (forget his name) are on the left. I am unsure what puts Bernie Sanders to the left of Elizabeth Warren and her thrust for strengthening worker union power over the last 7 years, her campaign position on breaking up big corporations, and implement a wealth tax. It seems the majority of people from the US seem to think that Bernie is to the left of that. I think the only thing Bernie is really to the left of Warren on is the rhetoric (she claims to be a capitalist, he claims to be a socialist, the truth is they're both capitalists). Anyway, it's difficult for me because I think with the US there are a large variety of different opinions of what "left/right" even means, and it is difficult to keep track of them all. It seems to be a selection of arbitrary policy positions that sometimes trade around. But, really a good rule of thumb is: Right = hierarchy |
Bernie isn't a capitalist, he's a market socialist economically, a democratic socialist politically, and a reform socialist in strategy. His Political Revolution that he always talks about is his answer to the criticisms of revolutionary socialists that you can't reform the system. He believes that abolition through revolution isn't necessary if there's a political revolution that renews the people's sense of civic duty and interest in public action, which he hopes will create the appetite for the fundamental reforms he proposes that would gradually turn us into a market socialist system. I think his strategy will work if we give it a chance. In the short term though, the main visible difference between him and Warren will be limited to rhetoric. But the signs are on the horizon. I mean have you seen his Green New Deal? Not just 100% renewable, but 100% publicly owned power. He's literally advocating seizing the means of electricity production. He'll do this with healthcare and other sectors of the economy as well. Just because he still supports markets doesn't make him not a socialist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism#Reform_versus_revolution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_socialism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_socialism
People accuse Bernie of being a simple social democrat, but here's a quote from the market socialism article that explains things a bit:
"while social democracy aims to achieve greater economic stability and equality through policy measures such as taxes, subsidies and social welfare programs, market socialism aims to achieve similar goals through changing patterns of enterprise ownership and management"
Hence why publicly owned power is so important to Bernie, as is getting rid of private insurance.
