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How is Modern ‘Socialism’ Different From Communism?
Democrats have had to distance themselves from the term made popular by Bernie Sanders
Abigail Spanberger (D-Va) blames increasingly widespread use of the word socialism for the loss of Democratic House seats this cycle. After becoming popularized by the likes of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, it has subsequently been weaponized by the right to imply a totalitarian, freedomless state. And another moderate Democrat, Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) says that running on a platform of Medicare for All and Defund the Police is going to mean Democrats lose further elections.
The term has come under further scrutiny as Kamala Harris, who is considered to be the most progressive senator by some, and has a “progressive” ranking similar to Bernie Sanders according to Progressive Punch, has had to distance herself from the term. Despite backing Sanders’ Medicare for All bill and co-sponsoring the Green New Deal, she answered in the negative, laughing nervously, when asked on 60 Minutes whether her views were “socialist.”
The latest innovation in the weaponizing of “socialism” is happening among Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants in south Florida — and Trump seems to have won their vote running on the platform of “Biden is a socialist dictator.” Many were understandably concerned — Cuba under Fidel Castro was a nightmare for many.
But it’s a far cry from the brand of “Democratic Socialism” espoused by modern American leaders in the Democratic Party, like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. What, exactly, are the differences?
Though Castro and Che Guevara, who took charge of the socialist revolution in Cuba, claimed to adhere to a Marxist-Leninist view of socialism, they in reality did not. Marx’s vision of socialism was one which workers overthrow the government and seize the means of production from their capitalist overlords. In Cuba, the working class did rise up, overthrow the government, and seize the means of production — but then they became the government. So rather than a worker-run economy like the one Marx envisioned, the economy became government-run. There was no free market, and supply and production were controlled by the government.
