Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, is a man from the 1930s. If you didn't believe that before, you certainly should believe it now. Sanders last week gave a powerful speech at George Washington University defending his identity as a "democratic socialist" and endorsing Franklin Roosevelt's 1944 promise to create an "economic bill of rights." Roosevelt, of course, died before he could make good on that commitment.
"We must take up the unfinished business of the New Deal," Sanders said. Meanwhile, he expects "massive attacks" from those who attempt to use the word "socialism as a slur." Sanders is surely right to object to this: We long ago passed the threshold of having a socialist society that reorders its spending to help those who we think deserve help.
It's true that Sanders' socialism doesn't fit the traditional definition, which is government ownership of the "means of production" and major corporations. But we do already have a vast system of "entitlements" — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and the like — that eventually subsidizes most Americans. At any one moment, roughly half of U.S. households receive benefits, reports Danilo Trisi of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Over time, the proportion rises.