Balgarianovinite.com
Democratic socialism has been thrust into the political limelight recently, thanks to self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani winning the race to become New York City’s next mayor earlier this month.
But what is the difference between democratic socialism and the socialism practiced in hellholes like the Soviet Union?
That’s the question CNN’s Michael Smercornish had on his Saturday morning program. And it turns out, the answer is right there in the name — democratic socialism is much different because it is “committed” to democracy, according to his guest Johns Hopkins University Political Science Professor Robert Lieberman.
The professor explained:
“Democratic socialism puts the emphasis on that first word — democratic. Socialist regimes, [like] the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, tend to believe that in order to achieve workers’ control of the economy and the sort of planned economy, that anything is fair game. Any means of gaining power.
“Democratic socialists, or social democrats, tend to be committed, first and foremost, to democracy. But they are people who worry about the compatibility of capitalism and democracy or whether inequality or extreme economic inequality kind of degrades democratic regimes.
“People who call themselves democratic socialists are committed to democracy, but worry a lot about inequality.”
There you have it. There is no chance democratic socialism goes sideways like it did in those aforementioned countries, because adding “democratic” in front of “socialism” safeguards against it.
Prof. Lieberman, a moment later, said Mamdani won in large part because of his focus on affordability. He said he does not have a “strong view” on whether Mamdani’s plans to freeze the rent would help tackle that issue, but he said the next mayor was successfully “tapping into that anxiety about affordable housing.”
His comments come a day after Mamdani visited President Donald Trump in the White House.
Their meeting was much warmer than many anticipated, considering Trump had dubbed Mamdani “my little communist” and had mocked his socialist ideas, saying they have never worked. Mamdani, meanwhile, has called Trump a “fascist” in the past — a comment the president laughed off while talking to reporters on Friday.
The pair seemed like two old chums during the summit, and Trump afterwards said it was a “great honor” to host Mamdani.
Prof. Lieberman’s appearance on CNN also comes a few days after the House of Representatives passed a bill that condemns the “horrors of socialism.”
Watch a bit of that segment on Smercornish above.
The post CNN Expert: Democratic Socialism Is Different Than the Soviet Union and China Because ‘Democratic’ Is In the Name first appeared on Mediaite.
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