I've lived in a socialist country under a political party that wanted to own/control the means of production.
I don't advocate it. Not one bit. Same as I don't advocate brutalist capitalism. Not one bit.
Bernie appears to me to believe in the value of selected public goods within a market/private ownership/democratic setting.
That's not the same thing as pure socialism. It is, in fact, a variation on what most people hanker for when you isolate issues one at a time. The extremists want philosophical purity. He seems both idealistic and pragmatic. Yes. He seems to want to push the dial leftwards. No. I don't see him wanting to eradicate private property along socialist lines. Instead, he wants to expand various public goods (eg roads, healthcare, rail etc) and to narrow the inequality gap in the private domain, as many do.
Maybe one day the television shows will actually tell folks what he believes in. As opposed to sticking labels on him like pins on a donkey.
(Not that he helps himself!)
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