Is Bernie Sanders the AntiChrist?

Just how evil is Bernie Sanders?
Can anyone who wants universal health care and free college be anything other than "the lawless one who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved?"

The answer appears to be "yes".

The problem is that socialists like failed 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders aspire to replace America’s capitalist system with a socialist one equivalent to, say, the socialist nightmare of Venezuela, one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth. And this rightly frightens Langone.

Ken Langone is the founder of Home Depot, who has written a book called “I Love Capitalism”.
In this book he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is End Of Days. Or something like that.

He wanted to show gratitude, to inspire the young—“If I can make it, everyone can!”—and he wanted young voters to understand socialism is not the way. “In 2016 I saw Bernie Sanders and the kids around him. I thought: This is the antichrist! We have the greatest engine in the world.” The wealthy have an absolute obligation to help others: “Where would we be if people didn’t share their wealth? I got 38 kids on Bucknell scholarships. They’re all colors of the rainbow; some are poor kids, rough around the edges. It’s capitalism!” He famously funds NYU/Langone Medical Center.

He worries about the future of economic freedom and sees the selfishness of some of the successful as an impediment. “Are there people who are greedy, who do nothing for anyone? Yes.” They should feel shame. If the system goes down they’ll be part of the reason. “But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!”

The WSJ says this guy is a "non-idiot billionaire" and that millennials have "never heard capitalism defended".

Right.
What world do these people live in? Let's take these one at a time.

1) No, not "everyone" can make it in capitalism. Capitalism cannot function without most people losing.

2) Where would we be if people didn’t share their wealth? Gee, I don't know. With a society like we have today? Where billionaires are totally cut off from the rest of society, and all the levers of government captured by the wealthy? Basically a society of haves and have nots.

3) As for the people who are greedy, who do nothing for anyone. They don't feel shame, and they never will. That's sort of the point.

4) If the system goes down we are all f*cked, at least in the short-term. That's why Bernie Sanders wants to save it, even for rich f*cks like you.

5) Finally, and here's the big one, your program to help a few dozen poor kids isn't capitalism! If you think it is capitalism then it only proves that someone can become a bazillionaire while still being ignorant about basic economics.

I'm consistently amazed how the most dedicated defenders of capitalism seem to know the least about it.
Do they know anything about Adam Smith other than the "Invisible Hand"? 99% of the time, no.

The same goes for Marx. Everyone hates him, no one has ever read him, except maybe a paragraph from the Manifesto. They are usually unaware that Marx never actually detailed when and how socialism will replace capitalism, and what that political system would look like.

As for a real-world example, the favorite example of modern capitalism is the iPhone.

The world's biggest company may have more cash on hand than many actual governments. But the technological breakthroughs behind its iconic iPods, iPhones, and iPads were funded almost exclusively by government agencies — and by one particular segment of one particular country's government.

As the chart below demonstrates, there's little in these devices that doesn't owe its existence to the US Department of Defense in some form or another.

Later devices saw investments from the Navy for their GPS capabilities, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded Siri. In fact, the parent company of Siri's creator, which was acquired by Apple in 2010, still gets over half of its revenue from the Department of Defense, according to a report they published earlier this year.

iphone.jpg

Maybe one day, we'll have a real debate, and honest examination of our economic system.
But if even the winners of that system are ignorant of how it works, then that day is very far in the future.
Instead what get is half-truths.
For instance, whenever a socialist government fails it's always the fault of socialism. However, when a capitalist government fails it's NEVER the fault of capitalism.
When people starve under socialism it's the fault of socialism. But when people starve under capitalism, it's the fault of something else.
When there is a scientific breakthrough in a capitalist country, it happened because capitalism encouraged it. When there is a scientific breakthrough in a socialist country, it happened DESPITE the economic system.

Every debate about the economic system comes with strong prejudices and bullsh*t assumptions that effectively block any honest search for the truth.

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...the socialist nightmare of Venezuela, one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth.

That repeated line irritates the hell out of me. Yeah, it totally has nothing to do with the U.S. exercising its tremendous power to destroy Venezuela, going on decades' worth, now. Officially listing them as a, "terrorist threat," imposing sanctions, and deliberately funding/facilitating regime change.

Heck, even a couple mainstream rags even admit that, from time to time.

https://www.thenation.com/article/why-is-venezuela-in-crisis/

There’s little evidence for the claim that “socialism killed Venezuela.”

An honest account of the crisis must include both of these aspects: the government’s costly errors, and the destabilizing actions of the opposition and US government.

The US government has not only cheered, and funded, these anti-democratic actions. By absurdly declaring that Venezuela is an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and pressuring investors and bankers to steer clear of the Maduro administration, the White House has prevented Venezuela from obtaining much-needed foreign financing and investment.

The second facet of the economic war is the damage to Venezuela’s economy wrought by US government actions.

https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10736

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/18/venezuela-protests...

US support for regime change in Venezuela is a mistake

The US push to topple the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro once again pits Washington against South America

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Although in this instance:

... In fact, the parent company of Siri's creator, which was acquired by Apple in 2010, still gets over half of its revenue from the Department of Defense, according to a report they published earlier this year.

one wonders whether that's yet another example of corporate-benefit-only socialism or yet another example of contracting out some of the endlessly multiplicated public/private intrusive spying on people's personal conversations and lives...

Edit to add, although this hardly needs specifying, in either case, (or both,) as is usual, at the expense of the public and against the public interest.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

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