In an interview with NPR, Bernie says himself why he does not simply stop calling himself that. It is because it is what it is. He does not change the meanings of words or change his beliefs simply because they are misunderstood or inconvenient. Bernie is, if nothing else, a man of conviction.
Let's take his idea for the US Post Office for an example. He wants to privatize the post office and turn it into a banking system. This would cut government spending, create jobs, and turn a profit. What does that sound like?
The bad parts of socialism is what we are already doing. When the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was signed by President Bush to essentially bail out the banks that had failed, that is Socialism at its worst. It is the opposite of Capitalism. It is the government holding up a system that cannot hold itself up.
Another example of bad socialism is the Berlin Wall. In reality, Trump is more of a socialist than Bernie is.
Socialism has good and bad, but Bernie is using Socialism as a champion for Capitalism. He does not want the government to control the banks, he wants to break them up into small credit unions. He is not going to take over any industry with the government. At most, he will regulate them with taxes.
I think a big one that people are disagreeing with is free college tuition at state and community colleges. This is not bad socialism. We are already doing this... It is called high school. Up until 60ish years ago people had to pay to go to high school. Now we have a government backed school system that has changed the literacy in America and increased the national wage average. Back then it was hard to get a job without a high school degree and few people had them. Sixty years later, most people have a high school degree but it is hard to support a family unless you have a college degree.
If the scenario for why we made public high schools free now exists for a college degree, why should we not have a free public and state tuition? That may be socialism, but it is socialism that promotes capitalism and entrepreneurship and creates an even playing field for the lower and middle class.
Bernie is the only one passionate about these issues. He wants radical change and we need it. Growing the middle class is good for the Nation. Six banks own 60% of America's wealth. That is not a good thing.
