The Bernie Moment
[guest post by JVW]
During the final days of World War II when the Nazis had been defeated and final preparations were being made for the Battle of Japan, Great Britain held an election. Prime Minister Winston Churchill had been in office since the first year of the war, and his Conservative Party held 385 of the 640 seats. His own approval rating stood at an incredible 83%, unthinkable by modern standards. Confident that his government’s management of the war would be rewarded, he departed for the Potsdam Conference of Allied nations as voting commenced across the kingdom.
You history buffs know what happened: Labour defied all prognosticators and won an incredible 393 seats, reducing the Conservative numbers to fewer than 200. The Labour Party, who had largely helped bring Churchill to power by refusing to serve in a coalition government under Neville Chamberlain, had seized upon the moment of victory to argue that a socialist platform of government rationing and central planning, under which Great Britain was presently living due to the necessities of war, would provide an equitable and humane method of post-war rebuilding. Writing to her father shortly before the election, Sarah Churchill had warned that Labour’s arguments were striking a chord with war-weary Britons:
Socialism as practiced in the war did no one any harm and quite a lot of people good. The children of this country have never been so well fed or healthy, what milk there was, was shared equally, the rich didn’t die because their meat ration was no larger than the poor; and there is no doubt that this common sharing and feeling of sacrifice was one of the strongest bonds that unified us. So why, they say, cannot this common sharing and feeling of sacrifice be made to work as effectively in peace?
The new government under Clement Attlee would continue rationing into the next decade and would implement nationalized health care, pensions, sick leave, public housing, and universal basic income for families with children. They would nationalize banks, railways, aviation, energy, steel, timber, and mines, and labor unions were of course given unheard of influence in setting policy. Though unemployment was low, the government’s management of wages and its high taxes would mean that British society continued to be highly stratified between the wealthy and influential families and the rest of the country. And Labour’s desire to quickly divest the United Kingdom of its worldwide colonies would have the effect of throwing remote parts of the world into chaos and sowing decades of war and strife, problems which persist into today.
What does that have to do with the subject line of the post? Though the circumstances are entirely different here than they were in the British election of 1945, the challenges that are going to be presented by the COVID-19 outbreak might give American socialists their best opportunity yet to convince their countrymen and countrywomen that a socialist program — or at the very least a huge and all-encompassing regulatory state — is the answer to our problems. Let’s forget the Republican Party and various unaffiliated conservatives for a moment and think only of Democrats. Just three weeks ago, it appeared that the Green Mountain Gramsci was in the catbird seat for the party nomination. Then the party regulars — long-time devoted interest groups such as African-Americans and public employee union members — seem to have sounded the alarm and rallied around a long-time party operative who has almost nothing of interest to offer but manages to serve up in his own disjointed and confused way the bland orthodoxies that they have grown comfortable with through the years. And so, up until this past week, it seemed pretty likely that the Dems had at last settled upon the relatively safe and familiar figure and had put an end to the elderly crypto-Marxist and his burned-out aging radical talk of revolution.
But might this be the opportune moment for the Sandersnistas to advance an argument that only socialism can lead us through these difficult times? After all, at this point they only have to appeal to other Democrats, not yet to the nation as a whole. And despite all the punditry announcing that Joe Biden had pretty much closed the deal, the fact remains that he still has fewer than half of the delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Senator Sanders does indeed appear to be promoting the idea that only his brand of socialism can save us, calling yet again for single-payer healthcare and other government delivered goodies to tide us over during what could be a prolonged economic slump. His opponent is now lurching in that direction too, adopting Elizabeth Warren’s debt forgiveness plans and musing aloud about “free” college. Tomorrow’s primary locations seem to favor the former Vice-President. Arizona and Florida are home to lots of older retirees, and Cuban-American Democrats in the Sunshine State might not be too warm to Senator Stalin’s endorsement of Fidel Castro’s literacy programs. Ohio and Illinois both have a solid share of black voters on the Democrat side which ought to work in Slow Joe’s favor, though who knows but that former Chicagoan-turned-DC-resident Jesse Jackson’s endorsement of Bolshevik Bernie (and former Chicagoan-turned-DC-resident Barack Obama’s curious reluctance to come to his loyal VP’s aid) might help the spread the irascible old commie’s appeal beyond left-wing whites and low-participation millennial minorities. The hour is getting late for the Bern Feelers, and tomorrow might be the last gasp to turn the tide this year before they go back to the meticulous process of taking over the national party.
Labour’s run in Britain lasted until the Conservatives under Sir Winston returned to power in 1951, but Churchill’s ability to undo the entire Labour agenda was limited. Certainly many of the items such as housing, public assistance, and perhaps employment and wage policies would have been implemented in some form or other by a Conservative government, but the nationalization of many British industries lasted until the Thatcher Era and nationalized health care lives on today. If this is to be America’s socialist moment, we can’t count on it to be a passing fancy but should understand that aspects of it will be here to stay.
– JVW
I know there’s been a tendency among Republicans to believe that a Bernard Sanders nomination would mean a landslide victory for President Trump of the 400 electoral vote type. I have never though that was clearly the case, and I am wondering if supporters of the President are now acknowledging that this is far more likely to be a razor-thin election in either direction than it is to be a blowout. And should it be a blowout election, it seems to be every bit as likely that it could be a Sanders or Biden blowout win as it could be a Trump blowout win. What crazy times we are living in.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 1:16 pmIf you take medicare you are a socialist. Ayn rand opposed medicare until she got to sick from smoking and private health insurance wouldn’t cover pre-existing conditions. She got on it while all the time denouncing it!
social security yes (3d4eb8) — 3/16/2020 @ 1:30 pmShe got on it while all the time denouncing it!
Now do the anticapitalist Bernard Sanders and his million-dollar book deal and three homes, and his wife’s neat little severance package after bankrupting Burlington College!
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 1:53 pm“She got on it while all the time denouncing it!”
Maybe she wanted her money back.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/16/2020 @ 2:04 pmI don’t think Trump gets a landslide against either Bernie or Biden. The Democrat’s base is just as likely to go NeverTrump as did many GOP voters went NeverHillary in 2016.
However, I still think Trump does better than his 2016 result, provided that we’re well on the mend from the COVID-19 outbreak by the summer.
whembly (fd57f6) — 3/16/2020 @ 2:12 pmIf you’ve never seen it, watch Brexit: The Movie. VERY informative explication of GB history in the 20th Century. I never realized that GB got twice the money as Germany under the Marshall Plan, and still managed to be “the sick man of Europe” because of BIG GOVERNMENT central planning. They were still rationing and impoverished while Germany was booming under their market economy.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/16/2020 @ 2:25 pmThis was a good and well-timed post, JVW. I would caution against relying on Biden to be a bulwark against socialism. As he’s shown throughout his career, he follows the wind. If the American people are socialist enough, Biden will oblige.
I love this quote from Milton Friedman, because it shows how futile the efforts are of so many people who comment on this blog about which candidate is better than some other candidate:
I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or if they try, they will shortly be out of office.
In other words, the enemy is not “the system”, or “evil politicians” who thwart the will of the people, but we ourselves. Until we change our thinking and the thinking of others, even the “right” leaders will do the wrong thing.
norcal (a5428a) — 3/16/2020 @ 3:13 pm=yawn= I’ll save electrons.
Lived it when living in the UK; experienced it first hand. It works. And works better than what is presently in place in America.
“And that’s a good thing.” – Martha Stewart
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/16/2020 @ 3:36 pmPrince Charles: Israeli genius is maintaining the NHS
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Prince-Charles-Israeli-genius-is-maintaining-the-NHS
Prince Charles: ‘Israeli genius is maintaining the NHS The Prince, in Jerusalem for the World Holocaust Forum, also noted that his grandmother Princess Alice is buried at the Mount of Olives.’
Oy Vey! A royal PITA, wot?!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/16/2020 @ 3:56 pmIt worked…to destroy the backbone of the second-greatest nation in world history.
But yay, nationalized everything!
Demosthenes (3ab744) — 3/16/2020 @ 3:58 pm@10 The British Empire was already well on it’s way out before the NHS. It had the same problem as the Roman empire, it was over-extended.
Nic (896fdf) — 3/16/2020 @ 4:30 pm@10. Except it didn’t.
Unless you’re a colonialist– which is what they built that Empire on.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/16/2020 @ 4:41 pmBernie doesn’t have to sell anythig… the situation is doing it for him.
Hence, the post.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/16/2020 @ 4:43 pmMass Immigration of the last 30 years has brought us socialism. “We need to get used to it”. Well, at least that’s accepting the reality that the libertarian philosophy of “open borders” leads to “some socialism”. I’ve noticed that most “Moderate” Republicans are pretty cool with Joe Biden getting in office, and given his age, chances are his more Radical VP will be President. I’m beginning to wonder what the “True cons” and the “Moderates” are actually Conservative or moderate about. As the D’s move left, they move Left. I suspect its just a $$$ thing. As long as they personally are raking in some dough, everything else is A-OK.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/16/2020 @ 6:13 pmSocialism is feudalism, with the kommissars as the barons and the proles as the serfs. It was already in the British genes.
nk (1d9030) — 3/16/2020 @ 6:29 pmBernie’s three houses are funny. He has a townhouse in DC, a house in his hometown, and a summer home. So did every member of the Soviet Politburo. A luxury (by Soviet standards) apartment in Moscow, a house in their hometown, and a dacha on the Black Sea.
nk (1d9030) — 3/16/2020 @ 6:34 pmBrownell’s is rationing shotgun food. They had a sale on S&B #4 buck, but reduced my order to 2 boxes. I’ve got a bunch of PDX1, but I’ll always buy ammo on a good sale, but rationing?
What will we do in the zombie apocalypse?
Colonel Klink (Ret) (305827) — 3/16/2020 @ 6:47 pmI’m glad you had a positive experience with the NHS when you lived in Her Majesty’s realm, DCSCA, but I am not sure you can extrapolate that over a country as big as the United States. For one thing, the NHS has depended heavily upon doctors imported from overseas, with many of them ironically coming from Britain’s former colonies. And, in another irony, her former membership in the EU brought in doctors from Central and Southern European countries who could do better financially working in Britain. Do you think the United States will just grab surplus physicians from Central and South America, or even maybe raid the Canadian healthcare system for them? We are already taking a pretty large share — though not as large as Britain’s — of doctors from other countries; how do you think other nations feel about the nasty Yanqís luring away their doctors?
What I am getting at is that just like Barack Obama, the Sanders/Biden crowd is making promises about increased coverage that history and just raw numbers suggests is not going to be possible to keep. I’ve said this over and over and I stand by it: anyone who says that we will go to a single-payer health care system without compromising quality of care for 330 million patients is a liar or a fool, maybe as in the case of Sanders and Biden both.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 6:47 pmBrownell’s is rationing shotgun food. They had a sale on S&B #4 buck, but reduced my order to 2 boxes.
Aren’t there usually limits on how much you can buy when it’s on sale?
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 6:49 pm20 boxes at sale time, this was reduced after the fact.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (305827) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:02 pmA luxury (by Soviet standards) apartment in Moscow, a house in their hometown, and a dacha on the Black Sea.
You’ve heard the joke — hell, nk, maybe you are the one who told it here — about Khrushchev’s mother coming to visit him in Moscow? He meets her at his luxury apartment where he shows her the lush appointments and the breathtaking views of the city, then they head the two blocks to the Kremlin and the son immediately escorts his mother up to his spacious office.
“Look mother,” he says. “See this beautiful desk made from wood from the best East German forests? See this plush furniture hand-made by the best artisans in Hungary and the Czechoslovakia? See this beautiful artwork that once hung in museums in Berlin, Budapest, Prague, and Warsaw? This is the finest office in the world!”
They then sit down to a lunch served on china with golden implements and linen napkins. Caviar, champagne, meat, fish, poultry, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, bread straight from the oven, sweet desserts — you name it — are all spread out on the table in abundance. After lunch they hop into Khrushchev’s giant limousine and drive through the the heart of Moscow with a military escort clearing the roads along the way, until they reach Khrushchev’s dacha 100 kilometers outside of town nestled on a man-made lake. It’s gigantic with ten bedrooms, ten private bathrooms, a luxurious outdoor deck with built-in bar leading to the lake, and a full staff of cooks, maids, butlers, repairmen, and security at his beck and call.
“Well what do you think, mother?” he asks. “Isn’t all of this amazing?”
“Oh my Nikita, I am as proud as a mother could be!” she beamed. “But,” and here she pulled him closely and whispered conspiratorially, “what will you do when the communists come back into power?”
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:08 pm20 boxes at sale time, this was reduced after the fact.
Sounds like they imposed sale rules modeled after Democrat debate qualification criteria.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:10 pmHeh! Very good, JVW! No, I had not heard it before.
nk (1d9030) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:11 pmI would caution against relying on Biden to be a bulwark against socialism. As he’s shown throughout his career, he follows the wind. If the American people are socialist enough, Biden will oblige.
Oh yeah, I would absolutely agree. That’s why I pointed out that Biden is already trying to nudge his agenda closer to Elizabeth Warren’s agenda. If Sanders can stick around and keep it close, there’s no telling how far left Biden will lurch in order to try and stave him off.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:13 pmIf Britain shared a 1500 mile border with a impoverished country I wonder how well the NHS would do.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:20 pm18.I’m glad you had a positive experience with the NHS when you lived in Her Majesty’s realm, DCSCA, but I am not sure you can extrapolate that over a country as big as the United States.
Sure you can. America is a can-do country; haven’t you heard?! 😉
It will find a way. If you sign up for SS, Medicare, Medicaid– and use the postal service– you’re a “socialist.”
Bernie doesn’t have to say or do a thing. The situation is selling it for him all on its own. You can dispute the messenger to be sure– it’s way too extreme as noted on another thread– but not the message.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:26 pm1,500 miles compared to historical claim and a commonwealth wherever the sun never set? They did take Rudyard Kipling a little too seriously,and were (and still are until Brexit immigration rules are more clear) burdened in spurts and stabs with the blowback. May have wisely cut their losses here and focused on India, though.
urbanleftbehind (360fd9) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:38 pmIf you sign up for SS, Medicare, Medicaid– and use the postal service– you’re a “socialist.”
Nobody “signs up” to contribute to Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare, in case you haven’t heard: they are forced to contribute to the programs by law. If government wants to dispense with the fantasy that there is some kind of “trust fund” behind these programs and finally acknowledge that the money is simply spent elsewhere then I would be happy to entertain ideas for making the programs far more means-tested.
JVW (54fd0b) — 3/16/2020 @ 7:44 pm@28. You gotta sign up to get the bennies package going, JVW– in cse you haven’t heard. My meeting is in April. My brother did his SS by phone.
_____
Australian coronavirus vaccine goes into test production
https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-coronavirus-vaccine-goes-into-test-production
A factory in Melbourne has started producing a test dose of a potential coronavirus vaccine which scientists will begin testing on animals this week.
Australia has a NHS. D’oh!
“And the hits just keep on coming.” – Dan Kaffee [Tom Cruise]’A Few Good Men’ 1992
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/16/2020 @ 8:32 pmYou might want to check your source, ace. At least two Aussie articles are about American research.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/17/2020 @ 12:54 pmcalling yet again for single-payer healthcare and other government delivered goodies to tide us over during what could be a prolonged economic slump.
I think there’s a typo here: “could” should be “would”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/17/2020 @ 7:37 pmAll kidding aside, JVW, I think you have a point here. Biden is a throwback where both his competitor and the opposition are promising change. Trump could honestly refer to Biden as wanting to “turn back the clock” to the days of open borders, outsourcing of jobs and crippled manufacturing and export sectors. “There is more to Americans than their credit cards!”
Bernie, otoh, might not be such a bad choice against Trump. Bernie at least knows what he wants to do. He has a dedicated following to match Trump’s. He could rob someone on 5th Avenue and they would not bat an eye. While they all say they could not vote for Bernie, I have never known a “centrist” Democrat who could not find a reason to vote for the Dem. It’s not hard if you try. (“Congress will never pass his legislation!” Or “But the Republicans want to put blacks in chains … or coathangers something something” … or blame Trump for CV19).
As we have seen, the GOP regulars fell in line behind Trump. Why is it so hard to believe the Dem regulars would not find accommodation with Sanders? All they have to do is say “I’m voting against Trump.”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/17/2020 @ 7:47 pmIt’s not hard if you try.
For most Dems, reason enough is that Trump is there.
The real question will be how many Berniacs decide Biden is just a better behaved Trump, and don’t vote for him.
And what state the economy is in come September or October.
Kishnevi (30d0bc) — 3/17/2020 @ 7:56 pmNobody “signs up” to contribute to Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare, in case you haven’t heard: they are forced to contribute to the programs by law.
Nor is there any contract implied, unlike any private pension. Although conflating Medicare and Medicaid is silly — they are two different programs entirely. BTW, both SS and Medicare are means-tested now to an extent, through taxation and increased premiums.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/17/2020 @ 7:58 pmSanders doesn’t have to say a thing; the unfolding situation tateside is selling is base message all on its on.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/17/2020 @ 8:00 pmComrade Kommissar Sanders has never been really challenged. People just gape wide-mouthed and either enthusiastically agree or ignore him. For example:
nk (1d9030) — 3/17/2020 @ 8:04 pm— We know he has been to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Has he ever been to Denmark?
— What makes Denmark a socialist democracy and not a western liberal democracy?
— What makes Denmark’s social programs and safety nets socialism?
Stuff like that.
@34. You gotta ‘sign up’ to kick start the SS/Medicare bennies. Was literally in the midst of that planning meetings, account routing, etc., in April but the offices are going to be shuttered for a time because of the bug– younger brother set up his early SS bennies by phone. If only they showed up t the door w/a check- like a census form.LOL
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/17/2020 @ 8:06 pm@ 11, @ 12:
It’s sad, and telling, that you see “nation” and read “empire.”
This assumption says more about you than me.
Demosthenes (7fae81) — 3/18/2020 @ 11:19 pm@38. Indeed. Lived there. Know them. They still cannot get over it evaporating away [Brexit]– and it has been nearly a century. They are what they are; and were what they were. The place is festooned w/monuments to ‘Empire’– and long lost glory. Nelson at Trafalgar; Wellington at Waterloo; alone against the Nawzees. 1066 and all that…
“In the end, you will walk out. Because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 million Indians, if those Indians refuse to cooperate.” – Gandhi [Ben Kingsley] ‘Gandhi’ 1982
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/18/2020 @ 11:40 pm