What Is Democratic Socialist vs Social Democrat?

--Voicemail caller inquires about the different between democratic socialism and social democracy

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Broadcast on December 30, 2019

#davidpakmanshow #socialdemocracy #democraticsocialism

[IntensePeppers]

Something important to note - Bernie calls himself a democratic socialist but if you look at his policies he is actually a social Democrat.

[timothywhite]

David - To be fair, that was not the caller's question. He asked the difference between "democratic socialist" and just "socialist"

[idiotbox]

Biggest mistake you’re all making is applying these terms to people instead of policies and programs

[timothywhite]

"democratic socialists" believe in democracy first, as a means to enact socialist policies for the working class. "Socialist" is a very broad term but are normally supportive of policies such as workers owning and managing the means of production. So democratic socialists may believe in worker owned co-ops, however they believe that all policies must come about through a free and fair democratic process. Depending on ideology, a "socialist" may be fine with that, or may support more aggressive means of migrating away from capitalism. In today's world, democratic socialists tend to be supportive of a pragmatic ideology for reducing the harm of unfettered capitalism. They tend to be proponents of social democratic policies that serve to increase the wealth and political power of the working class. As the workers gain more power they will vote in more policies geared towards workers and increase their power further.

[SB-tpjv]

Social Democracy, Public Welfare and Social Justice may live long 🌹

[dcrews]

You're not answering his question. He asked for the difference between democratic socialists and socialists.

[Sean-ycji]

The other confusing thing for people is that most Democratic Socialists and Socialists of all stripes all support social democratic candidates because those are the furthest left options on the table in most countries. I think people see socialists rallying behind Bernie Sanders and assume that this means socialists think Bernie is one of them.

[shree]

Unless Americans who earn $60000/year are not willing to pay 50% in tax, there's no point talking about all this. In Sweden, the marginal tax rate for someone earning this kind of income is over 50% but in America, it is below 30%. The point is that the rich are not the only ones who pay. EVERYONE pays.

[lrc]

I see why Social Democrats are more popular. A regulated version of Capitalism is definitely appealing.

[KennyAIngram]

The answer was not accurate nor did it answer the question. Terrible.

[mikeyfiftythree]

I'm a free market socialist from Canada. It works for me.

[MrDnB]

The question wasn't what's the difference between Democratic Socialists vs Social Democrat. It was the difference between Socialists and Democratic Socialists.

[richardowens]

Labels aren't important - policies are!

[ScuzzyUltrawide]

Pakman, you answered a different question than the one asked!

[dollcrazy]

That’s not what he asked. He asked “What’s the difference between a Democratic Socialist (Bernie Sanders) and a straight out Socialist?”

[misterquantum]

I used to live in Pensacola. That place sucks. And it's super conservative. Poor guy.

[chan.tal.]

I wish he would have added links to reading materials in the description. Because from my History class Democratic Socialism is what you described as Social Democratic, and I’ve never heard the term Social Democrat until you. 🤯🤯🤯

[Siberius-]

Yes. As far as my understanding goes, Social Democrat is a capitalist who wants social programs.
Democratic Socialist is a socialist who wants a democratic form of socialism, rather than an authoritarian version of socialism.

As far as the actual question, "the difference between a Democratic Socialist and an actual Socialist".
There is no difference, since a Democratic Socialist IS an "actual Socialist". It's a type of Socialist. One who doesn't want authoritarian dictatorships.

So I think he meant to ask the difference between a Social Democrat, and an actual socialist. Which is what David answered. The caller just wasn't familiar enough with the terms. Otherwise he would have just asked how the terms any different, without using the word "actual".

[amandapanda]

On the topic of redefining words. The original “ social democrats” were what is now known as “democratic socialists”. They were reformist socialists, as supposed to the then prominent revolutionaries. Only later as they grow in prominence did they embrace the “political third way” and became what we now know them as. Some socdems still profess to be anti-capitalist (ex. Big chunks of the labour and and SocDem parties in Europe and people like Corbin)

[joshuasalem]

Here’s the tricky part. Someone like Bernie Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist, but going by his proposals he very much is not one. Not because he’s lying or wants to confuse you, but because he’s mislabeling himself and he’s probably called himself that for decades now. If he suddenly started calling himself a social democrat, he would be correct, but the media probably won’t take it nicely you’ll see shitty headlines like “Bernie Sanders is no longer a socialist???”