Quote (Thor123422 @ 9 Sep 2017 01:17)
I think the fact that he labels himself as a socialist is a huge mistake and paints a giant target on his back.
that's because americans have a weird understanding / definition of the term "socialism". for many of them it seems to primarily invoke images of failed pure socialist and communist states, the abolishment of private property, and other radical ideas like that. it seems to be something that particularly poorly educated and informed people just simplisticly consider evil / undesirable because they are stuck in a black and white kind of pattern when it comes to politics.
what they don't understand is that many of the wealthiest, happiest, safest, most equal and best educated countries in the world are in fact very "socialist" in many regards.
ofc it's in the best interest of your political and economic elite to uphold the misguided preconceptions that anything labeled "socialist" is "evil". if you actually talk about the ideas behind it, a huge portion of the population seems to be quite in favour or at the very least much more open to "socialist" ideas. but as so often, labels and feelings reign supreme (example: support for the "ACA" vs. "obamacare" by republicans)...
it's just dishonest to assume or even pretend bernie sanders wants to establish a purely socialist state - only people stuck in a black and white kind of thinking or those who deliberately want to misrepresent his position claim that...