Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

To the editor:

Gary Stussie seems puzzled about why “the college crowd seems giddy” about the “democratic socialism” proposals by Bernie Sanders, e.g., universal medical care, an adequate social welfare safety net, free higher education (Public Forum, March 15). Actually five of the 10 most successful economies in the world have just such “socialistic characteristics” (see money.cnn.com). Sadly, successful capitalism doesn’t mean most of its economic benefits go to ordinary working people. And if the college crowd is listening in class, that’s what they would’ve learned.

Stussie just isn’t right in characterizing Scandanavian social democracies as “not doing well.” Recently they aren’t doing as well but then neither are other industrial countries, including the U.S. Even so, Forbes magazine charactarizes Denmark as “enjoying a high standard of living in an economy with an extensive welfare measures and an equitable distribution of income.” It’s GDP this year is on track for 1.6 percent growth. Unemployment is around 6 percent. Sweden’s unemployment rate is 7.8 percent (though it pays to note their huge emigration influx). Swedish GDP is projected to grow close to 4 percent in 2016. Norway’s unemployment was only 3.3 percent last year. There’s no big emigration out of Scandanavia.

It’s both historically inaccurate and a piece of mischief to equate the socialism of the Nordic social democracies with the “larger experiments in socialism which have failed miserably” (fascist dictatorships like the Soviet Union, Cuba and China?). The Scandanavian road to socialism was not marked by brutal repression, total public takeover of private industry and disregard for democratic processes.