5. A government that creates jobs, not prisoners. “Democratic socialism means that our government does everything it can to create a full employment economy. It makes far more sense to me to put millions of people back to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, than to have a real unemployment rate of almost 10 percent. It is far smarter to invest in jobs and educational opportunities for young people who are unemployed, than to lock them up and invest in jails and incarceration.”
Putting people in prison is an industry. There's profit to be made. There are better models out there. The U.S. doesn't care about restorative justice, or nurturing a healthy society. Restorative justice is certainly not new, and it's successful in some places in the world. Denmark, for instance. Yes, another Scandinavian program that is better for people than the U.S. "unique" alternative.
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-norways-prison-system-is-so-successful-2014-12
6. A living minimum wage and real family leave. “Democratic socialism means that if someone works 40 hours a week, that person should not be living in poverty; that we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage—$15 bucks an hour over the next several years. It means that we join the rest of the world and pass the very strong Paid Family and Medical Leave legislation now sitting in Congress.
A country that really valued a "work ethic" would make sure that working provided economic security.
7. Stopping climate change-causing industries. “Democratic socialism to me means that we have government policy, strong government policy, which does not allow the greed and profiteering of the fossil fuel industry to destroy our environment and our planet. And it means to me that we have a moral responsibility to combat climate change and leave this planet healthy and inhabitable for our kids and grandchildren.”
Yes. And, as he has pointed out in other places, if we don't move now, we're setting up a scenario that feeds massive migration and world-wide competition for resources...sources of global conflict that will hasten our destruction.
9. America’s political system must be a democracy. “Democratic socialism, to me, does not just mean that we must create a nation of economic and social justice and environmental sanity. Of course, it does mean that. But it also means that we must create a vibrant democracy based on the principle of one person, one vote. It is extremely sad—and I hope all of you will pay a lot of attention to this issue—it is extremely sad that the United States, one of the oldest, most stable democracies in the world, has one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country, and that millions of young people and working-class people have given up on the political process entirely.
“In the last midterm election, just a year ago, 63 percent of the American people didn’t vote, 80 percent of young people did not vote. Clearly, despite the efforts of many Republican governors, who want to suppress the vote, to make it harder for people of color and old people to participate in the political system, our job together is to make it easier for people to vote, not harder to vote. It is not a radical idea—and I will fight for this as hard as I can as president—to say that everyone in this country who is 18 years of age or older is registered to vote: end of discussion.”
This is how a minority control the majority, when the majority has no hope, and no engagement. It's why we should welcome candidates who bring fresh energy, enthusiasm, and engagement to our elections and to the process of governing.
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