Where does socialism begin?

It appears that Bernie Sanders has been denounced and attacked for his support of Jeremy Corbyn, the new British Labour Party leader, by some members of Hillary Clinton’s entourage and supporters. Such action is within the parameters of her ideology and, as a friend of Wall Street and the banking and finance industries, we can understand her discomfort with Corbyn’s victory in Britain.

Corbyn is a well known, long time left-wing socialist who came from nowhere to win a landslide victory as leader of the Labour Party, a victory that may be signaling a growing discontent worldwide regarding the effects of capitalism on the suffering of millions of people.

Included in the criticism of Bernie’s support of Corbyn is Corbyn’s consistent support for Venezuela’s late president, Hugo Chavez, as well as Bernie’s involvement in negotiating the purchase of discounted Venezuelan heating oil for many economically poor communities in states throughout the U.S.

In responding to these attacks, Bernie, in a statement sent to reporters said, ““They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator.” Really, Bernie?

This so-called dictator was democratically elected to office in 1998, was re-elected in 2000, again in 2006 with over 60% of the popular vote, survived a U.S. led attempt to overthrow his government, and then got re-elected a fourth time in 2012. This does not sound like the actions of a “dictator.”

What Chavez did do was to try to level the playing field by allowing Venezuelan workers to derive a greater benefit from their country’s oil reserves. Chávez focused on enacting social reforms as part of the Bolivarian Revolution. Using record-high oil revenues of the 2000s, his government nationalized key industries, created participatory democratic Communal Councils, and implemented social programs known as the Bolivarian Missions to expand access to food, housing, healthcare, and education. This led to improvements in areas such as poverty, literacy, income equality, and quality of life.

Chávez described his policies as anti-imperialist, being a prominent adversary of the United States’s foreign policy as well as a vocal critic of US-supported neoliberalism and laissez-faire capitalism.

After listening to Bernie’s campaign speeches, one would think that he would welcome the criticism from Hillary’s camp and embrace his support of Corbyn and Chavez. Instead, we find Bernie distancing himself from Chavez as well as mischaracterizing his administration’s record.

Yet, Bernie and his supporters insist that he is a socialist. What does that mean? Can one be a socialist and denounce socialism? Can one be a socialist and support capitalism? Can one be a socialist and support U.S. global imperialism or Israel’s genocidal policies? Can one be a socialist and run for the office of president as a Democrat?

This is who Bernie is and his voting record is very clear. While people are swooning over his candidacy, let us not ignore the total package. His rhetoric on domestic issues is progressive. But he doesn’t lay out how he is going to fund free public colleges, universal health care, rebuilding our infrastructure and creating jobs. He has made no declaration to reduce military spending, which is 55% of the budget, or reduce our military involvement throughout the globe (Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Ukraine). Bernie has made clear that he will continue the Obama drone strike program. Despite being elected as an independent, Bernie has allied himself with the Democrats entirely.

The Democratic Party projects itself as the party of the people, the working class. Yet, the party has consistently been pro-war, pro-Israel, pro-business, and anti human/civil rights. He has voted with the party 98% of the time which is more than most Democrats.

The Democratic Party is the more dangerous of the 2 parties because the working class has bought into their rhetoric and supports them unconditionally, looking to them for relief which never comes. At least with the Republican Party, there is no pretense. We all know who they represent.

We cannot afford to forget that almost all the senators and congressmen are millionaires or approximating that level of worth. Their continued careers as politicians is dependent on those who have the financial resources to pay the bills when they are campaigning. Why should these men and women who we elect to office have any interest in our welfare? For decades, working people and unions have been seduced into believing the Democratic Party will bring us salvation. All they have brought us is broken promises and a continuing economic system which is not pro-worker.

Every 4 years, we listen to these fine, promising speeches made by the presidential candidates. After they are elected, the promises disappear from political discourse. It happens time after time and we keep forgetting that no matter who sleeps in the White House, he or she belongs to the elite, the rulers.

A couple of examples. When Obama took office, he pursued a change in the health care system. The people who sat and discussed and negotiated these changes with our elected officials were CEOs from the health insurance companies. An attempt by health care workers, doctors and nurses, who favored a public option, to sit in on these negotiations, resulted in these people being thrown out of the meeting and arrested.

We also have candidate Obama promising a more transparent administration and protection of whistleblowers. Instead, after taking office, we have one of the most secretive administrations in U.S. history, we have the criminalization of whistleblowers, many jailed and/or lost their jobs. Meanwhile, those who were exposed for committing crimes, are never held accountable.

Then we have the infamous Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP). President Obama is willing to spend a tremendous amount of political capital to get this trade agreement passed. This, despite the overwhelming amount of economists who have expressed their distaste for this agreement, claiming it could create an enormous loss of jobs and damage the U.S. economy.

Who is sitting in on these negotiations? Over 600 CEOs and business administrators negotiate in secret determining our future. Elected officials are not welcome. Guess who will benefit from the terms of this agreement?

Elections are no more than political theater. Each candidate assumes his/her role, their narrative is prepared and we hear whatever they think we want to hear. Talk is cheap, as they say. Candidates take political positions that they feel we want them to take, positions they may have never assumed in the past.

Like Franklin Delano Roosevelt did in the 1930s, Bernie will bring us some Band-Aids that will make capitalism palatable to the working class.

But, let’s be real. We have lived in a capitalist society for many decades. When capitalism was falling apart in the 1930s, Roosevelt instituted many social programs that placated the workers and salvaged the system. He had to fight off his fellow capitalists and capitulate to the pressures from the communists and workers who demanded that the government invest in the creation of jobs and put people back to work. When Roosevelt created various agencies to begin the process of job creation, his greatest cooperation and support came from the communists and the socialists.

The ethos of capitalism is competition and an emphasis on the individual. Greed is not only acceptable, it is honored. So the question is, after Bernie helps bring workers some relief, how long will it be before we have to begin the same struggles again. History has shown us that we fight the same fight over and over because we don’t deal with the root cause of the problem, functioning within a capitalistic framework.

Bernie is not a socialist. He is a long time Democrat who even now states that, if he is not the presidential candidate, he will support whoever is. His choice to run as a Democrat and his willingness to support Hillary if she is the Democratic candidate tells us much about who he is.

Like Obama, he is exciting the electorate and giving them hope. Like Obama, he will disappoint.

GOD BLESS AMERIKA!!!

Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.