Jan Helfeld is famous for giving politicians headaches.
In this video from 2008, Jan nearly undoes Sanders’ entire worldview in three questions.
Sanders is reluctant to answer question number one, but after he does, question number two becomes visibly painful for Sanders.
Question number three makes him remember that he has a very important vote to attend,
I saw an interview he did with David Corn and Corn was pretty nimble as far as defending REgressive policy-Sanders is a club. How in the world he keeps getting reelected and has 20-30 million people ready right now to vote for him as president is a tribute to the effectiveness of the NEA.
Is Sander’s uncomfortable with the questioning because he doesn’t want his followers to see the iron fist of government coercion inside the velvet glove of forced equality?
If he sees the implied contradiction of individuals surrendering a right to violence that they don’t have to their own government, why not discuss how the democratic process and the restrictions of a republic form of govern serves as a restraint on government monopoly on violence?
Bernie sees the logical trap here but can’t for the life of him figure out how to avoid it.
Only the government can coerce people to do things, buy things, give up income which they view immoral or oppose.
Remember the Hammer and Sickle of equality?
They were used to cut everyone down to size and hammer any nails that stuck out!!
The most disturbing part of the video is actually the off camera audio at the end when it’s clear Sanders wants to see Helfeld’s papers to report him to the gestapo.
Sanders avoids the question, but doesn’t avoid the implied threats
Apparently neither person has read Hobbe’s Leviathan which describes why we institute government. In the brutish world described by Hobbes that right is “might makes right” and is not the kind of right the interviewer seems to be implying.
In that aspect, then the answer is, yes, we have a natural right to exert force on another in a society without law where ‘might makes right’ irrespective of the prudence of doing so. Social order in that scenario devolves to rule by the most ruthless.
We’ve evolved social contracts and institutions where we relinquish most of the personal ‘right’ to use force against others and placed it in a government to exert force on our behalf according to law. As individuals we retained only the right to exert force against another when our life is threatened.
The Declaration of Independence recognizes this contract and the right of the people to reassume the right to use force against others should the governmental agency breach the contract:
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
If Government officials do not like your line of questioning they want your personal information. Why?
Comrade Bernie is such a smarmy, self- righteous prick
“I believe the American people have the right, in a representative democracy, to delegate power to their elected officials to do best for cities, states & the federal government.”
Wow! …. just …… Wow
…anything wrong here Civics 101 class?