Political speeches aim to inspire and influence, to slant and spin, to flatter and fool. But when those aims become the only aims, and reason disappears beneath rhetoric, something important is lost. Imagine getting it back.
I want to talk with you tonight about some of the big ideas of my campaign, of my entire political life, and of this present political moment. I want to talk with you about democratic socialism. And let me be clear: I want to talk not only to the growing number of Americans who hear that term and think of hope, of fairness, of an economy that works for all Americans and not only for millionaires and billionaires; but also to the many Americans who hear that term and think of tyranny, of danger, of government that is too big and too powerful. And I want to say to both groups: you are right.
“Socialism” is a word that is used for very different things, and even for totally opposite things. And tonight I want to be very clear about what I mean by that word. And I want to start by being very clear about what I do not mean by that word.
One of history’s most evil and brutal governments was that of the Soviet Union, which called itself socialist. At its very worst under the dictator Joseph Stalin, that government murdered and starved millions upon millions of its own citizens. This regime that called itself socialist gave itself massive power, and used that power to terrorize its citizens, and to deny their most basic human rights to worship, to have a free press, to criticize their government. It controlled the country’s economy to build the industry and military that the government wanted instead of providing what individuals and families wanted or needed. This caused tremendous suffering, and it also created a system that could not compete with the wealth and creativity of the West, and eventually collapsed.
This is one thing that can be meant by the word “socialism.” And I say to you tonight that if this is the socialism that you hate, that you fear, that you see as un-American and dangerous and evil—you are right. And you and I are in complete agreement.
But now let’s consider Social Security for our seniors. Or having a minimum wage for our workers. Or public schools for our children. Or national parks for us all. Or consider health care systems like those in Canada or the UK or, in fact, every other major country on earth, where healthcare is treated as a basic human right.
What do these things have to do with a dictator like Stalin? Are these things in any way connected to Soviet communism, or in any way a danger to democracy or freedom? Absolutely not. And in fact they are essential to democracy and freedom. They are ways that we come together to form a decent society that works for all Americans, and not only for millionaires and billionaires. They are ways for us to come together to get free of the corporations that right now have entirely too much control over our government. This is not the government taking too much control of the economy, as some countries that call themselves socialist have done. No, this is the American people taking back control, through their elected government, that should never be in the hands of corporations in the first place. Your health care should be treated as a human right, not as something that depends on the whims of your employer. And not as something that depends on the whims of an insurance company focused on making profit.
Now, some Republicans are trying to tell the American people that any step in this direction is a step onto a slippery slope. Or that to treat healtcare as a human right, to provide Medicare for All, is some dangerous new experiment in socialized medicine. And I have to be honest with you tonight. This is nonsense.
There are legitimate questions out there. And there are legitimate disagreements out there about the very best way to fund and run and structure our American healthcare system. But none of that is on the minds of Donald Trump, or congressional Republicans, or their friends at Breitbart or Fox News, when they warn about socialized medicine, or losing your private insurance, or raising your taxes. The only thing on their minds is to say whatever might work to manipulate you, and to help their donors in the insurance lobby, in the pharmaceutical lobby, and on Wall Street.
The truth is this. Far from being anything new or dangerous, treating healthcare as a human right is, in 2020, not only simple decency, but it is simple common sense. Because the data is in, folks. We don’t have to imagine. This debate is not a debate between dreams on my side, and nighmares from the Republicans. We can look at the facts. And the fact is that Americans pay much more for our healthcare than the citizens of any other wealthy developed country. But what that buys us is, by almost every measure, worse healthcare, resulting in worse outcomes for real people. The American people are trapped in a lose-lose situation, paying more and getting less, with millions of Americans unable to afford any health insurance at all, and millions more at risk of being denied for pre-existing conditions if President Trump gets his way in court—where, by the way, he and his administration are saying things very very different from what he said on Tuesday night.
The solution is simple. The solution is plain to see, in Canada, in the UK, in France, in Denmark. The solution is treating healthcare as a human right. And the only thing it’s a slippery slope to is better care, lower costs, and a freer and fairer America for us all.
Now, I want to address some questions that some of you might have for me tonight. And I want to acknowledge some mistakes. In my long career in politics I have always worked to support fairness, and opportunity, and the interests of all Americans instead of just millionaires and billionaires and corporations. I have always worked to promote what I mean by “democratic socialism.” But during that long career I have at times listened to the words of people or groups that called themselves socialist without looking closely enough at their actions. And so there were times that I met with people or spoke positively of people who said some of the right things, but who I now know were in fact doing some awful things.
And I have no doubt that Donald Trump—a man who loves dictators like Kim Jong Un and Recep Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin—will try to tell you that no, somehow it’s me who loves dictators, at least if they call themselves socialists. Well, like so much of what Donald Trump says, that is a lie. Let’s be clear. To worry about dictatorship, and totalitarianism, and protecting our freedoms and our democracy and our way of life—that is good. That is right. That is essential. But we need to turn those worries into actions, and not let them be twisted and manipulated by Donald Trump or anybody else. The way to do that is not to treat the word “socialism” like magic, or to try to confuse today’s Canada or Denmark with Stalin’s Soviet Union, or to fixate on a quote or a video from decades ago that connects me to someone connected to someone connected to a dictator. No, we need to look at the man who right now praises and assists dictators. We need to look at the man who right now tries to act like a dictator with no limits from the Congress or the courts or the Constitution. That is what is dangerous, and un-American, and a threat to our democracy, our freedoms, and our way of life.
And now to close I will say this. I have been in this fight for decades. I have been fighting for fairness, for opportunity, and for an enconomy that works for all Americans and not only for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations. That is what I mean by democratic socialism. But I could not care less whether anybody else wants to use that term!
So let me again speak to two groups of Americans. To those who want democratic socialism that means fairness, and opportunity, and strengthening our democracy, and creating an economy that works for all of us. And to those who want to oppose dictatorship, and totalitarianism, and the powerful having too much power over the rest of us. To both groups, I say that you are right. And that you are needed. We need to come together to stand against dictators abroad, to prevent dictatorial abuses here at home, and to build an economy that works for all Americans.