C.V. Allen: Before we lynch Bernie, we might want to hear him out

What is socialism? And what is a socialist? To the average American socialism is a four-letter word, like swearing in church or having your dog mess on the living room rug. Use the word in a friendly way and you will be politely ushered out the nearest door.

And now along comes Bernie Sanders, who has the audacity to call himself a “democratic socialist,” whatever that is.

He might as well put the noose around his neck, throw the rope over the branch and ask the electorate to kick the chair out from under him. Yet, he is drawing crowds. And votes, too.

We might pause here to define “socialism” as a form of government where the government owns “the means of production and distribution of goods and services.” Which means IBM, General Motors as well as E.&J. Gallo Winery, Foster Farms, The Modesto Bee and the corner grocery store would be owned and controlled by the government.

Stalin’s Russia was the last true socialist society, and nothing like that is even conceivable here or in Europe, which is considered socialistic by some.

Competition and the veneration of market forces are as American as apple pie and usually go hand-in-hand with the demonizing of any governmental role in America’s economy or society. Most often, our government is pictured as a fumbling, bureaucratic, inefficient nuisance. Rarely mentioned are the repeated excesses of the free market that gave us the Great Depression of the 1930s, the 2008 Great Recession, the savings and loan fiasco, dirty water, Bernie Madoff, air bags that kill, cars programmed to pollute, the most expensive health care system on the planet and much, much more – leaving big, bad, bumbling government and the taxpayer to clean up the resulting messes.

In reality, Americans have had “socialism” for years. Mandatory public education (socialized) has been around since the early 1800s, public roads (socialized) benefited all by allowing goods to move to and from market and people to move unhindered by paying tolls or fees. Public libraries (socialized) were built with the understanding that a literate public able to enjoy unrestricted access to information is a public good benefiting all.

The hybrid partnership between government and the private sector has given us the moon shot, productive medical and scientific research and a Medicare program far more efficient at providing care to the elderly than its private counterpart. Meanwhile, we have 50 million citizens medically uninsured or underinsured through private companies, with costs and death rates higher than in other similar nations.

On health care, Sanders simply asks, “Isn’t it in the public good for all Americans to have access to an acceptable level of quality care for all citizens at a reasonable cost – as is done in most of the industrial world?”

It could easily be done by extending an existing partnership – government-financed and delivered by the private sector – for all Americans, not just the elderly. Sound familiar? It’s Medicare writ large, America’s most respected and efficient health institution.

Saying the unsayable – “health care should be a right and not a privilege” – to a skeptical public and a timid Democratic Party will lead Sanders to the electoral hanging tree, but in a good cause.

When he is long gone – back to Vermont, perhaps – and our dysfunctional health care system has self-destructed and been replaced by some kind of universal health care system, he might be remembered as a “man ahead of his time.” Indeed he is that.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 10:51 AM with the headline "C.V. Allen: Before we lynch Bernie, we might want to hear him out."