What is Socialism Today?

Socialism has become a key word in the current political campaign in the US. Republicans accuse Democrats of all being “socialists,” whatever that means. Bernie Sanders is the only Presidential candidate who proudly embraces the label, defining his democratic socialism in terms of F.D. Roosevelt’s Economic Bill of Rights – which was offered as the next stage of the very popular New Deal. The Right attacks big government as socialist, ignoring the fact that the biggest part of government is the Pentagon. The Left often points to the 2008 bailout of the banks as socialism for the rich and the abandonment of homeowners as capitalism for the poor.