Why Can't Sanders Supporters admit he's a Socialist?
There seems to be some reluctance to do so on the part of many. The say he's really just an old-fashion liberal democrat in the FDR, Truman mode rather than a DLC style democrat.
But that's not how Sanders has presented himself throughout his long career. He seems like a sincere, authentic, and proud Socialist.
I know the word has some negative valences with some. But you can't combat those negative valences by saying that well he's not really a socialist. The way to combat those negative valances would be to own the word and explain the approach.
I take it that's what Sanders is trying to do. His supporters -- at least those on this board -- seem less inclined to own the label.
= new reply since forum marked as read
would be one guess 
Well THANK YOU, KENNETH.
I'm glad we have that cleared up.
same as her husband. 
It's funny because the exact expression you just used "he was one of the best Republican presidents" is something I heard during his second term and it was what finally made me see him clearly. I hadn't realized how many passes I'd given him until the whole picture was put in front of me and I finally had to admit that he was way more to the right than I (and the Democratic Party was.
It's the workers or the community owning the means of production that I see most often cited. The state need not even participate. Those systems don't usually allow for capitalism, but Bernie does.
I peg Bernie as a new, new dealer. Democratic socialist means about the same thing.
--imm
week it is. 
I'm out
smarter than me 
Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist 
I replied. I kind of like Socialism, actually.
Libraries
Schools
Roads
Bridges
Health dept
FAA
State Troopers (they're always out there helping stranded drivers, aren't they?)
De-Icing trucks
FEMA
US Military
Socialism is sort of awesome. 
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/life-satisfaction/
Life Satisfaction
Background
Measuring feelings can be very subjective, but is nonetheless a useful complement to more objective data when comparing quality of life across countries. Subjective data can provide a personal evaluation of an individual’s health, education, income, personal fulfilment and social conditions. Surveys, in particular, are used to measure life satisfaction and happiness.
Life satisfaction
Life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole rather than their current feelings. When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, people across the OECD gave it a 6.6 grade. Life satisfaction is not evenly shared across the OECD however. Some countries – Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Turkey – have a relatively low level of overall life satisfaction, with average scores of less than 5.6. At the other end of the scale, scores reach 7.5 in Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. There is almost no difference in life satisfaction levels between men and women across OECD countries. However, when looking at people’s education level, there is a clear difference: whereas people who have only completed primary education across OECD countries have a life satisfaction level of 5.9, this score reaches 7 for people with tertiary education....
Details by country...
World's Happiest Countries? Social Democracies
by
Craig Brown
A new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) shows that happiness levels are highest in northern European countries.
Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands rated at the top of the list, ranking first, second and third, respectively.
The US? As expected, the United States failed to make the top 10 but ranked among the highest for obesity and child poverty. Americans spend less than half the amount of time eating as the French, but have three times the obesity rate. “This tells us something about slow food, I think,” Simon Chappele, editor of the report said in an interview with NPR.
The report also showed the United States has the lowest mean age for women when they first gave birth, at 25.1 years old.
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2009/05/11/worlds-happiest-countries-social-democracies
06/05/2015
Denmark’s residents are the most satisfied with their lives, according to the Better Life Index released Monday. According to the study, published annually by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States failed to crack the top 10 for the fifth consecutive year.
The Better Life Index rates the 34 OECD member nations, as well as Brazil and the Russian Federation, on 22 variables that contribute to overall well-being, including income, education, housing, health, and life satisfaction. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 countries with the highest life satisfaction score.
A healthy job market is one of the most important factors contributing to higher life evaluations. Employment rates — the percentage of the working-age population that is employed — were higher in each of the 10 countries with the highest life satisfaction score than the average employment rate for the countries reviewed.
Conversely, countries with relatively unhealthy job markets had lower life satisfaction scores. Unemployment rates were above 8.5% in seven of the 10 least happy countries, while they were lower than 7% in all but two of the happiest countries.
Healthy labor markets not only help promote job security, but also they can ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/05/these-are-the-happiest-co_n_7521674.html
http://www.forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/#tab
verall
Rank Name GDP Growth GDP per Capita Trade Balance/GDP Population
#1 Denmark 1.1% $44,600 6.3% 5.6 M
#2 New Zealand 3.3% $35,300 -3.2% 4.4 M
#3 Norway 2.2% $67,200 9.4% 5.2 M
#4 Ireland 5.2% $51,300 3.7% 4.9 M
#5 Sweden 2.3% $46,200 6.2% 9.8 M
#6 Finland -0.4% $40,700 -1.8% 5.5 M
#7 Canada 2.4% $45,000 -2.1% 35.1 M
#8 Singapore 2.9% $83,100 19.1% 5.7 M
#9 Netherlands 1% $48,000 10.4% 16.9 M
#10 United Kingdom 3% $39,800 -5.9% 64.1 M
#11 Hong Kong 2.5% $55,100 1.9% 7.1 M
#12 Switzerland 1.9% $58,100 7.2% 8.1 M
#13 Iceland 1.8% $44,000 3.6% 0.3 M
#14 Australia 2.7% $46,600 -3% 22.8 M
#15 Belgium 1.1% $43,100 1.6% 11.3 M
#16 Portugal 0.9% $27,100 0.6% 10.8 M
#17 Lithuania 3% $27,300 0.1% 2.9 M
#18 Germany 1.6% $46,200 7.4% 80.9 M
#19 Estonia 2.9% $27,900 0.1% 1.3 M
#20 Slovenia 3% $29,900 6.9% 2 M
#21 Taiwan 3.8% $46,000 12.4% 23.4 M
#22 United States 2.4% $54,400 -2.2% 321.4 M
#23 Japan -0.1% $37,500 0.5% 126.9 M
A crash course in social democracy.
By Ann JonesJANUARY 28, 2016
http://www.thenation.com/article/after-i-lived-in-norway-america-felt-backward-heres-why/
