Four Ways a Libertarian-Socialist Differs From a Democratic-Socialist
Tags: Trumpism, Socialism, Democratic Socialism, Politics, Libertarian Socialism

Four Ways a Libertarian-Socialist Differs From a Democratic-Socialist ATrigueiro Follow May 16 · 4 min read

A new ISM in town

I am often questioned about whether Libertarian-Socialism is a thing. Of course it is a thing. Simply put, any thing is a thing if we say it is a thing, ESPECIALLY in politics. I tossed American Style onto the title of my book so this can be “our” thing. Years ago, Noam Chomsky warned me about the Frenchie anarchist muddying the water, so thank Noam for the American qualification on the title.

This “ism” asks its adherents to always imagine a conversation between a patriotic American libertarian and a patriotic American socialist. When faced with hard questions, they play out this hypothetical conversation. Some times I think about a conversation between Ben Franklin and Dwight Eisenhower. If I really want a humdinger, I imagine Thomas Jefferson and Shirley Chisholm. However, most times I think about the Roosevelt relatives, Teddy and Franklin. It is the Roosevelt analogy which seems to work best though since one is a 20th century Republican and the other a 20th century Democrat.

It is the 21st century now and we are in a flux. The Republican party does not exist any longer. Trumpism cannot sustain a political party as it is a personality cult, but the GOP has thrown all in. He is too old though unless Ivanka or Don Jr. can be groomed and properly positioned. On the other side, the Democrats have been falling apart for years. The pandemic is going to hasten the political realignment.

What are these new isms like : Trumpism, Democratic-Socialism, Nihilism, and Libertarian-Socialism? How might they differ in their approaches? The country clearly is realigning and democratic-socialism has some real support.

Frankly, Bernie Sanders should be president if money is speech. Bernie Sanders has for six years running had more INDIVIDUAL donors of money than anyone else! The American people have clearly spoken with their money despite what the Lame Stream media has been pitching.

I would hazard a guess that if we switched from ballots to number of donors Bernie wins. If we switch the criteria to weighting the percentage of net worth each candidate’s supporters have donated…AGAIN Sanders will win by a long shot. The fact he is not president speaks to a terrible oligarchy controlling the levers of power in our nation. If we switched to money instead of ballots, I bet Chicago cemeteries would become home to many Biden donors, but I digress.

I was a very early supporter of Bernie Sanders. I have given him money. This is in spite of the fact I disagree with him on a number of issues. We have enough overlap I feel. Also, he has been consistent intellectually in his positions over time. Despite my disagreements with him, I supported and continue to support an earnest, honest politician who is moved by compassion not greed.

Nonetheless, I do have my own ideas which I am pitching. Ideas I think are more practical and executable in the real world than some of Bernie’s planks. Below I have listed off some items on the democratic-socialist agenda. Next to each item I have provided a short description of an alternative and a link to a more detailed breakdown of what the libertarian-socialist position is.

1] Medicare for All - The libertarian-socialist believes Medicare if you have nothing else makes better sense allowing the existing insurance infrastructure to remain…for the moment.

2] Student Loan Debt — A substantial portion of Sanders support comes from his plank to write off student loan debt. The libertarian-socialist position allows people to work off some of this in very specific ways or in fact have it erased through something like a conservation corp force of “essential” workers.

3] Green New Deal — The solar, wind and hydrogen lobbies are powerful, but it does not mean these “renewables” are the answer — Frankly, its Fission or Fricking Fracking!

4] Tax the Rich —As much as the libertarian-socialist thinks this idea has some merit. The libertarian-socialist hates to discriminate against anyone even those they loathe. The libertarian-socialist thinks a Value Added Tax is the way to go here. A luxury item VAT is where we should start, but libertarian-socialists would advocate expanding it to reduce income taxes at some point. — weight it higher on luxury items

Read more at www.libertarian-socialism.org or buy the book and support the ideas in a more tangible way. Remember the Supreme Court has ruled MONEY IS SPEECH. Speak up for Libertarian-Socialism