Mike Solana

or maybe it's a false binary? all Western countries have parts of their economies that are socialized and parts that are free market. the debate is over which parts and to what degree. pretending that everyone who wants more socialism wants 100% socialism is silly

it's not a false binary. you either live in a country in which industry is controlled privately or you don't. bernie sanders has a long history of espousing real socialism - the nationalization of most industry in this country. what he wants is absolutely nothing like scandinavia

"oh but 'democratic socialism.'" that is a made up thing. socialism is almost *always* democratic. but once dominant it necessarily, to sustain itself, collapses into dictatorship. and no, "democratic socialists" aren't running scandinavia.

so hypothetically, if I said I favor free markets in most industries but I want single-payer healthcare and the government in charge of education, which side of your non-false binary am I on?

it depends, have you abolished the private option? do you believe i should be allowed to open my own school? purchase my own healthcare?

re: health insurance, personally I'd favor a situation like in France or Sweden, where private insurance exists but it's rare because the public option is so good. And I would define that as closer to socialism than our system, on a sliding scale

honestly, jeff, i think you and i are much closer — and folks like ocasio and bernie much, much further away — than you are willing to face