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Socialism has become a "cool" word with America's young people. Since Bernie Sanders calls himself a Democratic Socialist, then socialism must be AWESOME, right??? After all, Bernie wants people to have free healthcare and free college. Nothing wrong with that!

The problem is that Bernie Sanders is NOT a democratic socialist - or at least he's not running as one. Many Western European countries provide healthcare and low-cost higher education, but these social programs are made possible by regulated market economies that exist in these countries. Many young people who think that they are socialists are, in actuality, social democrats or even social liberals.

Democratic socialism began in the late 19th century with the Fabian Society. The Fabian socialists, inspired by the "Fabian tactics" against Hannibal used by Fabius Maximus against Hannibal during the Second Punic War, decided that Karl Marx's goals of abolishing private property and free enterprise could be better accomplished by the democratic process than through a violent revolution. Democratic socialists seek the same end as garden variety Marxian socialists (the end of "capitalism"), but by different means (the democratic process).

Thumbnail Image Credit: DonkeyHotey (Flickr)

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