The Importance Of Democratic Socialism In The United States

Senator Bernie Sanders, a self proclaimed democratic socialist made a speech on November 19, 2015 on both why we need democratic socialism in the United States, and the positive outcomes of this newfound underlying economic system being implemented in our government. The senator is appealing to the Democratic voters of America by providing a rebuttal to those who have called him a “Socialist” in the negative sense of the word. But he additionally appeals to the working/middle class, those who will most benefit from democratic socialism and more equalized wealth distribution in the US. Sanders attempts to sell why democratic socialism is the right system for the United States, and why voters need him to make a difference in the country. It describes historic events such as the Great Depression and the Wall Street crash of 2008 that required socialism to get the country back on it’s feet, then why
Socialism has such a bad reputation today. The speech finishes off with what Sanders would do with socialism if elected in 2016. This speech mainly uses “fear” and “logical fallacies” to prove why the US needs democratic socialism. His “fear” tactic takes place when he references historic events in which we respect the need for socialism, and relates them to today. Doing this places a sense of fear in the people who read it. The main idea is that if we implement democratic socialism today, we can prevent these devastating events from repeating themselves. In the very first sentence of his speech, he says, “In his inaugural remarks… in the midst of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt looked out at the nation and this is what he saw… And he acted… He reinvigorated democracy. He transformed the country. And that is what we have to do today”. By comparing today to the Great Depression, a sense of urgency is planted in the voters listening because they are given the impression that today’s economic crisis can and will parallel the US’s previous economic disasters. “Logical fallacies” give the audience a conclusion to draw from a set of given information.
Bernie Sanders uses this technique to show how the economic issues in the US can be solved by voting Bernie and his democratic socialist campaign into office. The Senator references current world issues throughout the majority of his article, including the wage gap between rich/poor, and between men and women. Significantly he mentions global warming and terrorism. He next begins to go back through the problems and state how democratic socialism can solve them. The “fallacy” part of the “logical fallacies” is that the people see the need for socialism, and determine that since Sanders is a socialist, he can fix all of the problems he cites. His claims make him seem almost godlike when he provides simple solutions for the economic crisis’ of today when those in poverty need a solution. They are inclined to vote for him because he provides a “light at the end of the tunnel” for all of their problems, when in actuality he may not be able to follow through on the things he
promises.
Bernie Sanders’ speech on democratic socialism is very effective in it’s goal to show why we need socialism in the US, and how by voting Bernie, we will get it, in addition to solutions to some of the problems we face today. The “fear” used in this speech compares our current society to those of disastrous times in the US. Because this creates a newfound urgency in the quest for a new economic system, voters establish that they need Senator Sanders. Using “logical fallacies”, he says that because he is a democratic socialist, he can be the solution to the problems of today. The voters now see that putting the senator in office is an urgent necessity for the economic stability of our country. In a quest for democratic socialism in the United States, voters are convinced that electing Sanders is the key to success.