The Bernie Problem

Donald Trump has taken a lot of mocking, denunciation, condemnation and outright hatred from large sections of the news and social media.  THC can understand that since he's also appalled by The Donald.

But what is puzzling him is why isn't Bernie Sanders getting the same type of reaction from these sources?  He's gotten as large a share of Democratic votes in the primaries as Trump has in the Republican contest.  Yet, most of what THC sees, even if mildly critical, is respectful, taking his ideas seriously and always careful to note that Bernie's "heart is in the right place".

Yet this is the real Bernie Sanders:

A man consumed by a lifetime of envy and bitterness which has led him to embrace some of most tyrannical and murderous regimes of the past century precisely because they have taken revenge against the people he considers his enemies.

A greedy man who wants more than a trillion dollars confiscated from his enemies so that he can spend it to gain other people's votes.

A man who does not believe in private charity, believing all charity should come from the state.

A not very intelligent man in thrall to old ideas demonstrated over and over again not to work.

A man confused by the very workings of the modern economy (if you don't believe THC read the transcript of his interview with the New York Daily News), yet confident enough to demand the right to order us all around.

A man for whom the very idea of individuals making the important choices in their lives is abhorrent.

When Trump and his followers are denounced for encouraging violence, THC asks where were those voices when Sanders supporters disrupted Trump rallies in Chicago and Phoenix?  THC has not seen Trump supporters disrupting Sanders rallies.

And don't let anyone fool you into thinking Bernie is a "European social democrat" instead of an outright Marxist who spent his honeymoon in the Soviet Union.  Just listen to what he actually says, not the label he and others apply to him.  He is so out of touch that he doesn't even know what how his role model Sweden actually operates.  Does Sweden have higher individual taxes than the U.S.?  Yes, but corporate taxes are lower and big business is encouraged in Sweden.  Sweden has also privatized many government functions and allows school choice.  In Bernie Sanders' world, the state must control all the reins.

THC cannot resist adding one other note, which is important in any comparison involving the U.S. and another country.  Descendants of Swedes who immigrated to the U.S. earn more and live longer than their counterparts in Sweden.  The same can be said of every comparison between descendants of immigrants from any country and those who remained and their homeland.  If that's the case, then why does the U.S. not always come out favorably in overall comparisons.  For that, you need to read about Simpson's Paradox which is not the same as Homer Simpson's Paradox.

The real question is why those news and social voices see Bernie Sanders as someone with respectable views in a society that values freedom and has brought prosperity to so many unlike the societies that Bernie idolizes.  It is a signal of something desperately wrong with a large segment of American society and that is a problem way beyond just that of Bernie Sanders.