O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.

Listening to the Democratic presidential candidates debate (I haven’t suffered enough, I guess), I concluded that it was a very representative group on the debate stage. There is hardly a damn fool idea abroad in the land that is not represented by one or (usually) more of the participants. Some Democrats early this year scoffed at President Trump’s declaration that America will never be a socialist nation. Trump was flailing away at a straw man, they said. Who, after all, would propose socialism for America?

Well, self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie Sanders, for one. Elizabeth Warren, for another. “Democratic-Socialist” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and her “Squad,” for sure. And who was the poor fellow who was soundly booed at the California Democratic Caucus early this year when he said Socialism is not the path to victory for Democrats?

As I listen to these candidates, I hear most of them want to socialize medical care (about one-seventh of the national economy) by abolishing the health insurance industry and establishing “Medicare for all.” They would nationalize everything from childcare to the funding of public higher education. They would abolish coalmines. Kamala Harris, apparently running for Dictatress of the Western World, has declared in previous debates that she would give the Congress 100 days to pass meaningful gun legislation and if Congress fails to do so, she will enact it herself. Nationalized gun legislation/regulation.

Planes, trains and automobiles? Gone, if one believes the Green New Deal, as proposed by those who jet about the world promoting it.

How are they Socialists? Let us count the ways.

Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? We welcome thoughtful commentary on topics of interest. Send submissions to carolrobidoux@manchesterinklink.com, subject line, The Soapbox.

Jack Kenny is a Manchester-based writer.