{"id":3024,"date":"2015-10-14T21:24:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T03:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3024"},"modified":"2015-10-15T06:12:55","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T12:12:55","slug":"another-reason-bernie-sanders-wishes-he-lived-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/10\/another-reason-bernie-sanders-wishes-he-lived-in-europe.html","title":{"rendered":"Another reason Bernie Sanders wishes he lived in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Bernie Sanders, as you may know, expressed the desire for the United States to be more like Scandinavia, or specifically the mythical Scandinavia in which health care, parental leave, day care, and university education are all state-funded, or, more specifically, funded by high taxes on the rich, who are not bothered by the taxes and seeming lack of reward for their efforts because they\u2019ve been socialized since toddlerhood to accept it. \u00a0 (Never mind that Social Security benefits have been pared back, and taxes are high for everyone, not just the rich, living standards for the middle class are in general lower than we consider \u201cnormal\u201d in the U.S., and their social conformity is fraying as \u201cdiversity\u201d increases.*)<\/p>\n

(* If you play your cards right, I might source this in a future post.)<\/p>\n

But it seems to me that Sanders\u2019 crusade makes more sense in a European context in another way as well: \u00a0his ultimate aim is not to win the presidency \u2014 he knows he has no shot at that. \u00a0His defense of Clinton with respect to the e-mails at the debate made it clear he doesn\u2019t expect to come out on top; as Charles Krauthammer said<\/a>, \u201cThe nomination contest ended when Sanders said, \u2018We\u2019re sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Sanders\u2019 objective seems to be to push Clinton as far to the left as possible, in a bidding contest on who will create the most, and the most generous, new government spending programs \u2014 for parental leave, for university tuition, etc.<\/p>\n

And he would be highly effective as the leader of a minor party in a place like Germany. \u00a0Get 5% of the vote as a minimum threshold, and\u00a0aim for as high a portion of the vote as possible in order\u00a0to become a junior party in a coalition, and secure a commitment to implement at least some part of the wishlist, as part of the coalition agreement. \u00a0That\u2019s much more effective than the approach of trying to get your party\u2019s candidate to make promises they may or may not fulfill. \u00a0It makes particular sense for someone with a specific agenda related only to one issue, e.g., the Greens in Europe.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that there are pros and cons to the divided system of government we have in the United States, which is fairly rare in the developed world (and I say \u201cfairly rare\u201d rather than \u201cunique\u201d because I\u2019m not researching this at the moment). \u00a0It is certainly not something we\u2019re used to, to imagine that the party, or coalition of parties, with the majority, can implement its agenda unchecked. \u00a0But nonetheless there is a certain appeal to this system of negotiation among coalition partners, and its place for minor parties \u2014 whether it be a Sanders-led Democratic Socialist Party, or a Cruz-led Conservative Party, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bernie Sanders, as you may know, expressed the desire for the United States to be more like Scandinavia, or specifically the mythical Scandinavia in which health care, parental leave, day care, and university education are all state-funded, or, more specifically, funded by high taxes on the rich, who are not bothered by the taxes and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAnother reason Bernie Sanders wishes he lived in Europe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bernie Sanders, as you may know, expressed the desire for the United States to be more like Scandinavia, or specifically the mythical Scandinavia in which\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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