Some Thoughts On Democratic Socialism

"Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children."

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."

— Albert Einstein

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A longtime friend asked me to clarify where "socialism" fits into a diagram that I had posted about the corporate neoliberal capitalist system that has long been destroying both the Democratic and Republican Parties, our nation, and life on Earth. After thanking her for asking, this was my response:

Tragically, we Americans are propagandized to not understand and to fear the word "socialism." In reality, democratic socialism is what FDR advocated for in the New Deal. It is what Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for when he severely challenged and criticized the military industrial complex, Wall Street, and other huge financial interests that have for so long been destroying our nation and the planet. 

Democratic socialism is what has brought us Medicare and Social Security, built us our roads and provided fire departments to put out our fires. It is the force and the belief system that has been fiercely fighting and losing the battle to protect our Earth Mother, now putting us all at risk of extinction within coming decades. 

It is the 1% and the corporate Democrats and corporate Republicans and corporate mainstream American media that teach us to fear the word "socialism," thus dividing us into the distracting and dangerous illusion that our fight is between Democrats and Republicans. This is not true. Yet so many believe it and we therefore remain a divided and polarized and conquered people. 

Where democratic socialism fits in is taking on the huge financial interests which have overtaken our government and turned it into what is now a late stage neoliberal capitalist structure that works for the needs of the 1% and not for the needs of the people and the Earth. 

This was especially true beginning with Reagan and continuing on with both Bushes, both Clintons, Obama, and now Trump. These presidents and their administrations have been beholden to the special interests of the fossil fuel industry, Wall Street and the big banks, the military industrial complex, the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, the prison industrial complex, the animal agricultural industry, the Koch brothers, and other corporate and multinational interests. These corporate interests have never acted in the best interests of the people or the planet. 

This is why there is such a fierce fight being waged to both birth a New World and to crush all efforts to dismantle these huge financial structures that are so deadly to our nation and the world. 

In short, democratic socialism seeks to dismantle all that you see in the middle bubble and is rooted in respect and reverence for life rather than its destruction. Anyone who states otherwise is lying and is reflective of those who are beholden to corporate interests. 

Please check out my blog piece where I challenge NPR and PBS for their deadly propaganda and betrayal: https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-letter-to-npr-and-pbs-why-i-cannot.html. All corporate funded media is guilty of betraying the best interests of the people because their priorities have shifted to ratings, profits, pleasing their corporate donors, and continuing to support the poisonous systems which are imperiling life on Earth. 

All this is why it is so deeply important to at least supplement what we take in with independent media whose commitment is to holding the powerful accountable rather than being mouthpieces for the powerful.

Envisioning an awakening, caring, and just world...

Molly 

Please go here for more information:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/12/watch-bernie-sanders-deliver-speech-why-democratic-socialism-only-way-defeat