Danish PM: Sanders should stop calling Denmark socialist

[they don't love you like i love you]

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/31/9650030/denmark-prime-minister-bernie-sanders

Now many will point out he's from the center-right party but I'd say that should debunk the "Sanders would be a FAR right winger in Scandinavia!" absolute nonsense.

He does have a good point though in that neither Denmark nor any other Nordic country has a planned socialist economy and are in fact free market. People need to understand that "socialist" does not just mean "free health care and higher education".

[RedPrometheus]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

[eric82oslo]

Yeah, Sanders is more of a social democrat, but social democracies in Europe aren't what they used to be. Today there's not a whole lot of differences between social democratic parties and conservative parties in most European countries, so Sanders probably looks at himself more of an oldfashioned social democrat like those we had in the 1970ies and 1980ies. (While Hillary is more of a present day social democrat.)

[BlueSwan]

People need to understand that "socialist" does not just mean "free health care and higher education".

Yes! Tell that to Foxnews.

Sanders represents a variation of scandinavian social democrats (traditonally the biggest parties in all the scandinavian countries, although that has been less the case over the last decade or two).

[Lief 🗽]

wow not even president yet and Sanders has already RUINED our relationship with Denmark, one of our oldest and most steadfast allies. very worrying...

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

wow not even president yet and Sanders has already RUINED our relationship with Denmark, one of our oldest and most steadfast allies. very worrying...

First Atlas bans politicus, then LLR starts a feud with Sanders, whatever next? You Americans better not criticise Lego for a while, or this Dane-America dispute could turn ugly.

[Higgs]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

That's like half his appeal though

[Maxwell]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

That's like half his appeal though

revolting against my parents ahhhh so cool

[eric82oslo]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

No. Sanders is a socialist. He just is not as socialist as others in scandinavian countries.

LOL. You obviously haven't read a single text book about socialism then. You call the conservative parties in the Nordic countries for socialists, really? The Norwegian government decided to abolish the inheritance tax in their first year in office and is slowly trying to do the same with the wealth tax. Not exactly what I would call socialist policies. In fact they couldn't be further from Sanders' point of view, and ultra far right tea party Republicans would be extremely proud of what the far right Norwegian government has done so far to further enhance the extreme wealth of the 1% at the top.

[eric82oslo]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

No. Sanders is a socialist. He just is not as socialist as others in scandinavian countries.

LOL. You obviously haven't read a single text book about socialism then. You call the conservative parties in the Nordic countries for socialists, really? The Norwegian government decided to abolish the inheritance tax in their first year in office and is slowly trying to do the same with the wealth tax. Not exactly what I would call socialist policies. In fact they couldn't be further from Sanders' point of view, and ultra far right tea party Republicans would be extremely proud of what the far right Norwegian government has done so far to further enhance the extreme wealth of the 1% at the top.

Did you even read what I said?

Yep, you said that Sanders is a socialist which is dead flat wrong. Then you said that most Scandinavian politicians (almost all perhaps?) are socialists too, which is even further from the truth. Maybe it was true to some extent during the 1950ies, 60ies and 70ies, yet since the 1980ies, the idea of socialism has been almost dead in the Scandinavian countries, just like it's been almost dead in most other countries in the world. And for every year that passes, Scandinavia is just getting further and further away from any resemblance to socialism. Even the socialist and/or communist hippies of the 1970ies, today reject their past views with a force and a conviction. I'm probably closer to being a socialist than the past communist hippies of the 70ies. That's how much have changed in the past 40 years. The only socialist party with any support in Norway receives less than 2% in every election. And its not really growing, despite the fact that there are a lot more immigrants in Norway today, and many of them being relatively poor, than at any other point in history.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Anyone who thinks the Scandinavian conservative parties are anywhere near socialist clearly knows nothing about them.

And if you want to bring up their stances on abortion, gay rights or gun control, those issues have nothing to do with socialism.

[YaBoyNY]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

No. Sanders is a socialist. He just is not as socialist as others in scandinavian countries.

the dreaded sliding scale of socialism

it's a slippery slope from basic socialism to advanced socialism

[Famous Mortimer]

Socialism is a broad term with no exact meaning.

[Famous Mortimer]

wow not even president yet and Sanders has already RUINED our relationship with Denmark, one of our oldest and most steadfast allies. very worrying...

If you watch his actual statement, he doesn't seem mad at Sanders at all, he doesn't even really contradict him either. He just clarifies that Denmark has a market economy.

[Lurker]

Anyone who thinks the Scandinavian conservative parties are anywhere near socialist clearly knows nothing about them.

And if you want to bring up their stances on abortion, gay rights or gun control, those issues have nothing to do with socialism.

Yeah, it's a pretty absurd idea. Though of course some Scandinavians often use the same BS rethoric - i.e,   "OMG, in America FrP would barely be right-wing enough for the Democrats, and Høyre would be considered far left socialists in the United States!!".

[OSR stands with Israel]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

No. Sanders is a socialist. He just is not as socialist as others in scandinavian countries.

LOL. You obviously haven't read a single text book about socialism then. You call the conservative parties in the Nordic countries for socialists, really? The Norwegian government decided to abolish the inheritance tax in their first year in office and is slowly trying to do the same with the wealth tax. Not exactly what I would call socialist policies. In fact they couldn't be further from Sanders' point of view, and ultra far right tea party Republicans would be extremely proud of what the far right Norwegian government has done so far to further enhance the extreme wealth of the 1% at the top.

Did you even read what I said?

Yep, you said that Sanders is a socialist which is dead flat wrong. Then you said that most Scandinavian politicians (almost all perhaps?) are socialists too, which is even further from the truth. Maybe it was true to some extent during the 1950ies, 60ies and 70ies, yet since the 1980ies, the idea of socialism has been almost dead in the Scandinavian countries, just like it's been almost dead in most other countries in the world. And for every year that passes, Scandinavia is just getting further and further away from any resemblance to socialism. Even the socialist and/or communist hippies of the 1970ies, today reject their past views with a force and a conviction. I'm probably closer to being a socialist than the past communist hippies of the 70ies. That's how much have changed in the past 40 years. The only socialist party with any support in Norway receives less than 2% in every election. And its not really growing, despite the fact that there are a lot more immigrants in Norway today, and many of them being relatively poor, than at any other point in history.

Sanders is a socialist as he believes in redistribution of wealth which is socialism.

[Helsinkian]

Merriam-Webster definition of "socialism":

"Full Definition of SOCIALISM

1
:  any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2
a :  a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b :  a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3
:  a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

As stated, the central characteristic of socialism is the collective ownership of the means of production. A society, where private businesses exist, is not a socialist society. There has not been a single socialist state in Europe for over twenty years.

So, yeah: it would be more accurate for Sanders to call himself a social democrat rather than a socialist.

[muon2]

Socialism is a broad term with no exact meaning.

I think it is more of a case of different meanings by different speakers.

Consider the Cambridge English Dictionary definition of socialism in British English and Business English:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

and in American English:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

(The Merriam-Webster definition is very similar to the Cambridge definition for American English)

Sanders sounds like he uses socialist somewhat in the sense of the Business English definition, but many American listeners will probably interpret it as the American definition. I don't know which version the Danes think he is using or if it matters.

[bobloblaw]

Sanders is a socialist as he believes in redistribution of wealth which is socialism.

Please look up the definition of the word "socialism". You probably think Portland is a communist city, too?

well they do have free bikes

[OSR stands with Israel]

Sanders is a socialist as he believes in redistribution of wealth which is socialism.

Please look up the definition of the word "socialism". You probably think Portland is a communist city, too?

Portland is not even close to communist

[OSR stands with Israel]

Sanders is a socialist as he believes in redistribution of wealth which is socialism.

Please look up the definition of the word "socialism". You probably think Portland is a communist city, too?

The city of Portland doesn't put policies in place which redistribute wealth so its not even socialist let alone communist 

[Hydera]

This debate about the definition of socialism really reinforced my belief that sanders supporters care jack about socialism at all. They like both the Nordic Model and actual socialism and dont care to differentiate since to them either of the two = get free $$$$$.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I completly agree. Sanders is no socialist and he should stop saying it.

No. Sanders is a socialist. He just is not as socialist as others in scandinavian countries.

LOL. You obviously haven't read a single text book about socialism then. You call the conservative parties in the Nordic countries for socialists, really? The Norwegian government decided to abolish the inheritance tax in their first year in office and is slowly trying to do the same with the wealth tax. Not exactly what I would call socialist policies. In fact they couldn't be further from Sanders' point of view, and ultra far right tea party Republicans would be extremely proud of what the far right Norwegian government has done so far to further enhance the extreme wealth of the 1% at the top.

Did you even read what I said?

Yep, you said that Sanders is a socialist which is dead flat wrong. Then you said that most Scandinavian politicians (almost all perhaps?) are socialists too, which is even further from the truth. Maybe it was true to some extent during the 1950ies, 60ies and 70ies, yet since the 1980ies, the idea of socialism has been almost dead in the Scandinavian countries, just like it's been almost dead in most other countries in the world. And for every year that passes, Scandinavia is just getting further and further away from any resemblance to socialism. Even the socialist and/or communist hippies of the 1970ies, today reject their past views with a force and a conviction. I'm probably closer to being a socialist than the past communist hippies of the 70ies. That's how much have changed in the past 40 years. The only socialist party with any support in Norway receives less than 2% in every election. And its not really growing, despite the fact that there are a lot more immigrants in Norway today, and many of them being relatively poor, than at any other point in history.

I said Sanders is a socialist because he is.

"Socialism" is not just a word for everyone on the far left. A socialist is someone who supports nationalizing the means of production; Sanders does not, and is therefore not a socialist.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Socialism is a broad term with no exact meaning.

Pretty much this.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why would anyone care what that washed up joke of a lame-duck-from-the-moment-he-was-sworn-in PM thinks? Sanders overeggs the pudding when he talks about certain Northern European countries, but he's not wrong to note the influence of socialist politics in them. And he's perfectly entitled to call himself a socialist (i.e. because he is one). Socialism is not quite as diffuse a political term as liberalism, but it isn't far off. I suppose to American ears this is a strange thing to hear, and yet it is absolutely true...

BUT THE DICTIONARY SAID... Jesus Christ. Why don't they teach them about nominalism in schools? It would at least have stopped you all embarrassing your neckbearded selves like this.