Socialism defined

I forgot to post this little bit that I submitted to Raleigh N&O. It appeared with minor edits on February 23.
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When I was young the hated word “socialism” stopped conversations. Today, “democratic socialism” leads to conversations about the great, underused productive capacity of our nation. Modern day democratic socialists understand how our monetary system can work for the poor among us and maintain thriving, green industries that do not pollute our air and water.

We have put our great productive nation to work before. We did it to win World War II. We built a transcontinental highway system. We put men on the moon. Then we lost our way. Regan told us government was the problem not the solution. We bought into his tricky, trickle-down economics. Clinton ran budget surpluses that led to the great financial crisis.

Sanders understands that we can increase our productivity, raise people out of poverty, make health care, social security, and education human rights. And, federal deficits for the public purpose can increase our productivity to its maximum.