I do not approve of Bernie Sanders, the “Independent” candidate for presidency. But I decided, mostly as a mental exercise, to give him some free advice. I am inspired by his “embarrassment” at being a wealthy author. When asked how a Socialist could, or should, exceed the average income, he, as far as I could tell, simply evaded. He should have been better prepared
I offer some basic facts. Socialism is an economic/political system in which the means of production are owned by the workers, who then distribute (or keep )any profits. As an aside I offer the proper understanding of Capitalism. It is the opposite of Socialism. In this second system the owners of capital (most often money used to operate a business) are given a return on their investment. That is, the non-workers are rewarded because they already were wealthy enough to start or to sustain a profitable business.
One of the problems with Socialism is that it is often associated with equality. That is, somehow, the wealth produced by everyone’s labor will be evenly distributed among everyone. Reasoning on this for about 3 minutes will expose this goal as impossible lunacy. Imagine for a moment Bernie taking the money he made on a book he wrote, and distributing it among… among whom? Would it be printers? Or the book sellers? Or the workers in stores where the books were sold? There is no possible answer.
Bernie could have responded that “once workers receive their pay they are free to choose how to spend it.” Bennie is pro-choice, of course. He could continue: “It is important for workers to understand the current issues. My book was an act of service and education. As such it was important. Simple justice means that a worker should be paid based upon how much his labor (or book) benefits society. And this evaluation is made by individual workers in what they purchase. In other words, they ‘vote with their dollars.’ I simply accept this act of active democracy.” Then he could add: “To reject the money from sales would have been like refusing to accept a birthday gift. I would never be so insulting.”
Bernie could also point out that the Acts of the Apostles indicates that at least some---perhaps many---of the early Christians lived a communal like style. It looks a lot like a form of Socialism. Many people who chant that “Socialism does not work,” ignore this fact. And anyone who knows history or religion knows that, for thousands of years, members of Catholic religious orders have lived out lives in socialistic principles. As they also lived lives of celibacy this vocation is not recommended for people in general. I am simply saying that with the right “raw material” and superior motivation “socialism” has worked.
Of course, Bernie appears to be ignorant of how to defend himself. He does not know religion. Thank God.