Paul Krugman says Bernie Sanders is really a social democrat who has misbranded himself, against his own self-interest, as a socialist. Is he right?
Mostly, but not completely. The “against his own self-interest” part is totally accurate, and will destroy him if he is the nominee. The basis for the “social democrat” part is that Sanders has no apparent interest in nationalizing businesses; even his polarizing signature health care plan only involves federal funding and regulation of the medical profession, not the creation of an American NHS. A true resident of Vermont, Sanders likes things small, and wants to cut big business down to size, but he goes no further than that. As a result, he is more accurately described as a social democrat than a socialist.
On this point, Krugman is echoing arguments I made during the 2016 campaign; they are as true now as they were then. The fact is, however, that at a deeper level, Sanders inhabits a cartoon world of evil, greedy capitalists who manipulate and ultimately oppress the hard-working, benighted masses with divide-and-conquer cultural arguments. Nasty foreign leaders such as Putin and Xi are merely puppets for the oligarchs, who must be resisted by moral force (never military power, of course) in America and throughout the world. This is a world view that is highly informed by Marxism. To that extent, Sanders’ attempts to brand himself are, alas, right on target.