March 2, 2020
Although Bernie Sanders claims to be a Democratic Socialist, throughout his adult life he has had a long history of defending and extolling the accomplishments of communist dictators and revolutions. Frightfully, this speaks volumes about Sanders’ worldview and belief -system.
Just last week in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Sanders praised the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for implementing a literacy program when he first came to power.
Never mind that Castro’s regime brought economic destruction and misery upon the Cuban people. Under Castro’s control freedom was nonexistent, personal-property was confiscated, and dissidents were tortured, arrested and even executed. Many Cubans were forced to flee their homeland to escape the horrors of Castro’s tyrannical rule. But, according to Sanders, Castro deserves praise because he implemented a government-run literacy program when he came to power.
Even isolating Castro’s literacy program from his despotic reign over Cuba, anyone other than a communist sympathizer understands that Castro’s push for literacy, was not benevolence, it was a tool to spread his communist propaganda throughout Cuba.
At a recent CNN town hall, Sanders even had praise for communist China, claiming that their government has “taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history.” The 45 million people who died when Mao Zedong implemented his collectivist Great Leap Forward campaign, resulting in a man-made famine, may disagree with Sanders.
Yes-many were lifted out of poverty in China, but due to the very principles which Sanders abhors. Beginning in the 1970s, under Deng Xiaoping, China adopted capitalist reforms to stimulate the economy. These policy changes, encouraged private businesses to form, embraced property rights and allowed for free-market competition, igniting the Chinese economy.
Moreover, capitalism, which Sanders wishes to abolish, has lifted more out of extreme poverty than any other economic system in the world. Between 1990 and 2010 nearly one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty, thanks to free-market principles.
Perplexingly, last year at a CNN town hall with Wolf Blitzer, even when pressed, Sanders refused to call Nicholas Maduro, the socialist leader of Venezuela, a dictator. He has also declined to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s true president, which is the position of the United States and many other countries. Incredibly, just nine years ago Sanders wrote an editorial claiming that in Venezuela “the American dream is more apt to be realized” than in America.
Sanders has also praised the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua calling it a “heroic revolution”. In 1985, when Sanders was the mayor of Burlington Vermont, he traveled to Nicaragua to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. During his visit, Sanders attended a Sandinista celebration at which the crowd chanted, “Here, there, everywhere, the Yankee will die”.
Before Sanders’ 1985 trip, U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle considered the Marxist Sandinista’s a brutal human rights-violating government. Sanders had a different take. Upon his return, he gave an interview on public access TV. Sanders praised the Sandinistas, even calling the Marxist leader Daniel Ortega an “impressive guy.” Sanders stated, “Most of the poor people and the working-class people I talked to felt that the situation now was much better than before.” Sanders added, “Rich people, needless to say, who used to have a good life, are not terribly happy.”
Sanders was so enamored with communist governments that after his 1988 wedding he and his wife chose to honeymoon in the Soviet Union. When he returned he lauded the Soviet’s public transportation system, stating that it was the “cleanest, most effective transit system I’ve ever seen in my life.” Sanders also effused about the cultural programs, marveling at the low cost, and claimed that they “go far beyond what we do” in the U.S. Throughout the hour-long press conference, Sanders had nothing but praise for the communist Soviet Union.
Interesting side-note, while mayor of Burlington, Sanders hung the Soviet Union flag in his office. He even named the town’s softball team the “People’s Republic of Burlington”.
The year after his Soviet Union honeymoon Sanders and his wife went on an 8-day-trip to communist Cuba. Upon his return, he once again had nothing but praise for a totalitarian regime. Sanders told reporters, “I did not see a hungry child. I did not see any homeless people. Cuba today not only has free health care but very high-quality care.” In actuality, Castro brought economic disaster and misery to the Cuban people. Many were so desperate to leave the island, once considered a playground for rich Americans, that they imperiled their lives and fled to the U.S. on make-shift rafts. As for the quality of health-care, in 2006 Castro had to summon a doctor from Spain to correct his botched intestinal surgery performed by Cuban doctors.
Sander’s predilection for communism appears to have started early on in his life. While a college student in 1963 Sanders spent several months in Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim in Israel. Sanders was a guest of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, which was affiliated with the kibbutz. Hashomer Hatzair was an openly Marxist movement.
The kibbutz, which Sanders spent time on was founded by Aharon Cohen, who was convicted in an Israeli court of being a Russian spy and sentenced to five years in prison. As reported by the New York Times the Sha’ar Ha’amakim kibbutz “saw the Soviet Union as a model, and often flew the red flag at outdoor events.”
Despite his decades-long praise of communist/socialist dictators, Sanders supporters deny that he’s a communist or even an actual socialist. During the presidential campaign, Sanders and his supporters often claim that Sanders’ “Democratic Socialism” is not the “bad socialism”, that’s in Venezuela it’s the “good socialism”, like Denmark.
This is laughable. First, Maduro was originally democratically elected in Venezuela. Moreover, Denmark is not even a socialist country, its economy is capitalist based. Further, Sanders’ history of lauding communist regimes, and his own words and website detailing his plans for nationalizing and/or implementing onerous regulations on major industries, along with his massive spending and taxation programs belie this defense. If ever given the power, Sanders’ economic policies would bring economic destruction and misery to the U.S., as communism and socialism always have wherever implemented. This can never be allowed to happen to the most prosperous country in the world.
