Peter Bloom: The real global threat to 21st century freedom is authoritarian capitalism, not democratic socialism
Sanders has
sought to shift the discussion into a larger one about the dangers of
right-wing authoritarianism, often backed by U.S. imperialism past and present.
At the last debate before the South Caroline primary, he declared: “Occasionally it might be good idea to be honest
about American foreign policy, and that includes the fact that America has
overthrown governments all over the world in Chile and Guatemala in Iran.”
While the effects of this tactic remains ambiguous, it represents a substantive
and strategically important attempt to put into question the actual cause of
authoritarianism both at home and abroad.
It is almost gospel in
mainstream U.S. political discourse that socialism and Communism are the
greatest threats to liberty. Yet the actual historical record suggests
otherwise. While recognizing the death and misery caused by past totalitarian
Communist regimes, too often ignored is the role of the free market for
spreading oligarchy, dictatorship, and illiberalism across the world. If
Sanders wants to win the nomination and generation election, he must go beyond
damage control and show progressive values and his brand of democratic socialism
is the best defense against such tyranny.
The Global Threat
of Authoritarian Capitalism: A huge problem, in
this respect, is the narrowness of traditional U.S. popular understandings of
authoritarianism and fascism - and the distinctions between such terms as socialism,
democratic socialism, and communism. Mounting fears of a Trump
dictatorship, for instance, have brought renewed historical attention to the
rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Tellingly, the emphasis has been on the
increase in mass intolerance (especially anti-Semitism) and
even the “authoritarian personality” both of which are thought to
have resonances with the present day situation. While all these factors had a
role to play, conveniently forgotten is how economic and social elites supported Nazism to protect their own wealth
and status.... read more:
https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/the-real-global-threat-to-21st-century-freedom-is-authoritarian-capitalism-not-democratic-socialism/see also
Tom Dispatch - William Astore, From Deterrence to Doomsday? // C. Wright Mills on The Structure of Power in American Society (1958) // The Week the World Almost Ended by Nate Jones and J. Peter Scoblic
