Guess Which Democrat Said We Need Less Economic Growth and Choice in the Market?
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the lone self-identified socialist in Congress (though we could name a few others…) did a Q&A session with CNBC news last week that should raise the eyebrows of conservatives, civil libertarians, and libertarians everywhere.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is running for the Democratic nomination for president, represents everything wrong with the populist redistributist left. Channeling his inner Hugo Chavez in an interview with CNBC, Sanders bemoaned the choice of deodorant and sneakers in this country, because children are starving. Via CNBC:
“You can’t just continue growth for the sake of growth in a world in which we are struggling with climate change and all kinds of environmental problems. All right? You don’t necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country. I don’t think the media appreciates the kind of stress that ordinary Americans are working on.”
Sanders, of course, is mistaken on the fundamentals. Economic growth is not a goal for the sake of itself—economic growth ignited by the freeing of markets has lifted more people out of poverty in the last century than any other force in history.
The punchline?
While discussing concerns that business owners and Wall Streeters have with socialists like Sanders who want to micromanage the economy and transfer wealth from certain interest groups to others, the Senator quipped:
“…these people are so greedy, they’re so out of touch with reality, that they can come up and say that. They think they own the world.”