Elizabeth Bruenig: If you're bothered by Bernie's millionaire status, vote for him

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

It makes sense that they would be. After so much complaining about Sanders's ritzy winter coat and his lake house in Vermont, the opportunity to utter the phrase "made a million dollars" must arrive as a great victory. There is no socialist in America who will ever escape charges of hypocrisy, of course; even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who was a bartender before her election, has been accused of being secretly rich. The reason this line of attack persists is because the politics of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are unabashedly moral in language and sound pretty good; the only way to undermine them is, therefore, to say they don't really mean it.

(snip)

First, Sanders’s complaint isn’t that millionaires exist per se — there are millionaires in democratic socialist countries such as Sweden, Finland and Norway — but that the United States’ super-rich are symptomatic of a system that churns out a small class of extremely wealthy people who rule over the vast remainder. Key to Sanders’s argument against the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a small elite is that their largesse allows them to wield disproportionate, anti-democratic political power by funding campaigns and lobbying politicians; seeing as Sanders’s campaign is funded strictly by small donors and he is not a lobbyist himself, it would seem that his having made more than 1 million dollars in a year doesn’t exactly run afoul of that critique.

One might argue that Sanders should’ve donated whatever money he made nearing the million-dollar mark to charity — and one might also ask why he ought not have donated every single dollar he made over his family’s immediate subsistence needs, regardless of the final tally. Sanders does do some charitable giving, but it’s worth noting that charity and socialism are nowhere near synonymous; this is why the right-wing proposal to let free markets reign and rely on individual giving to meet the needs of the poor is something like the political opposite of Sanders’s program. So while charitable giving is certainly a good thing to do, and I wholly endorse doing it, Sanders neglecting to de-millionize himself through alms isn’t a failure to adequately commit to socialism.

(snip)

But whatever the critique, honest or dishonest, I agree with the general sentiment: A few people owning stockpiles of wealth while many more go without is unjust. So if you’re bothered by Bernie’s big payday, take action now: Vote for him. You can raise not only his taxes but also the taxes of millionaires across the country, and reap the benefits in the form of universal programs such as Medicare-for-all. Have so many birds ever been felled by a single stone?

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2019/04/11/elizabeth-bruenig-if/

[Progressive2020]

1. Also

There are "the Rich" and there are "the Super Rich". Being worth a million or two is nothing compared to being worth 10s or 100s of millions or even multi-billions like Bezos, Gates, Musk, or Zuckerberg.

Being a millionaire does not mean the same thing as it used to. Sanders is more "well off" than very rich. He is also pushing for policies that will fairly tax the rich. He has nothing to be ashamed of. He wrote a best selling book and made some decent money from it. That is not the same as owning a tech company or a pharma company and being a multi-billionaire.

[NurseJackie]

2. Of course he has "nothing to be ashamed of". But he has certainly left himself open to accusations...

Of course he has "nothing to be ashamed of". But he has certainly left himself open to accusations of hypocrisy with regard to the "demonization" and vilification of others who can also be accurately described as being a "millionaire."

It's fun to watch how his most ardent supporters are now softening their previously harsh stance and rhetoric toward "the rich" and others who also earned money from their books, or who own three or more houses, or who benefit from "golden parachutes" and other exit bonuses and farewell gifts.

Now that BS is a member of that exclusive club, the other members aren't as "evil" as they were once portrayed and characterized.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Accusations of what? Did you even read the OP?

Bernie's point has always been that our dysfunctional economic/political system has been corrupted by big money and he has not wavered from this stand throughout his political career.

His Medicare for All policy proposal is even more generous to the people today than when he first proposed it.

It's the system that's the point.

[aidbo]

9. When you quote the word 'evil' there, who are you quoting?

[NurseJackie]

11. It's a word to describe HOW they were portrayed and characterized.

Don't play games with me. It's a word to describe HOW they were portrayed and characterized. I hope that clears things up for you.

[NastyRiffraff]

4. No.

I don't care about his millionaire status, only about his hypocrisy. And I won't vote for him.

(To forestall the usual demanding question: I won't vote for him in the primary; and Saint Bernie won't win the nomination. I fully intend to vote for the Democratic nominee.)

[Duppers]

5. K & R

[Uncle Joe]

6. ...

[Blue_Tires]

7. No thanks, not a big fan of moralizing hypocrisy

and I don't wish to reward it with my vote.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Then why are you opposed to Bernie? n/t

[Blue_Tires]

10. You want the long version or the short version?