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CNN recently released an op-ed called "Bernie Sanders is right about capitalism" and we wanted to share an excerpt of it with you today.
In the richest country in the history of the world we need strong policies to ensure that every man, woman and child has a decent standard of living. We must understand, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt did 80 years ago, that when we talk about "freedom" we are talking about economic rights as human rights.
We hope you'll take a moment to read CNN's important op-ed about the need to transform our economic and political systems to work for all of our people, not just those at the top.
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Opinion: Bernie Sanders is right about capitalism
In his new book, “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism,” Bernie Sanders chooses the moniker “uber-capitalist” to describe our current economic system — one that feels perfectly designed to enrich a tiny few while making life miserable for nearly everyone else.
Other terms work just as well, whether it’s “hyper-capitalism” or “late-stage capitalism,” to describe capitalism untethered to morality or decency. Whatever you call it, it’s not working, except for the super-rich, who Sanders aptly labels oligarchs.
Some people would say that capitalism is immoral, no matter what form it takes. But that doesn’t seem to be Sanders’ argument. Rather than making the case for a Democratic socialist government, Sanders appears to want a reform of American capitalism and to see the country embrace a kind of New Deal liberalism.
Sanders has said over the years that he sees Scandinavia’s generous social safety nets as a model of the kind of system he supports. In his book, he emphasizes an inspiration closer to home: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — in particular, FDR’s insight that “true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.”
Any person who is living paycheck to paycheck, working to the point of exhaustion just to survive and stay on top of their debt surely recognizes this statement is true. How “free” is a person really if all they do is work?
How “free” is someone who lives with a debilitating health condition because they can’t afford the medication or health care that could cure them? How “free” is a person who starts adulthood weighted down with a mind-bending amount of debt incurred just to get the education they need to get a job?
Many Americans are essentially indentured servants to an overclass that continues to amass wealth and power, while failing to pass on their largesse to their employees. Between 1978 and 2018, CEO pay skyrocketed by more than 900%, while worker pay grew by just under 12%, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute.
These chronically underpaid employees are also often treated as objects by their employers. According to an investigation by The New York Times, “Eight of the 10 largest private U.S. employers track the productivity metrics of individual workers, many in real time.” Workers complained that “their jobs are relentless, that they don’t have control — and in some cases, that they don’t even have enough time to use the bathroom.”
The Republican Party is working overtime to suppress the vote and undermine American democracy. It is a party which ignores climate change, the existential threat to our planet and represents the interests of the wealthy and the powerful while turning its back on struggling working-class families. The GOP is the party that gives tax breaks to billionaires while pushing for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs desperately needed by ordinary Americans.
This is not freedom.
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You can read the rest of this CNN op-ed by following this link.
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Together we must continue organizing to create a government that addresses the needs of the working class of this country. That is what our movement has always been about, and that is the struggle that we must continue together.
In solidarity,
Team Bernie
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