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# How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S.

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JUAmwPHb.m3u8" -->
## Video: How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S.

[Watch (HLS stream): How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JUAmwPHb.m3u8) (1:54)

![How Bernie Sanders Changed the Word 'Socialism' in the U.S.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JUAmwPHb/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-03-21. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may not win the Democratic presidential nominee this year, but he has already changed how American politics relates to the word "socialism."_


by 

[TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/)


## TIME Video


Mar 23, 2016 6:49 PM UTC

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may not win the Democratic presidential nominee this year, but he has already changed how American politics relates to the word "socialism." 

by 

[TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/)


## TIME Video


Mar 23, 2016 6:49 PM UTC

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may not win the Democratic presidential nominee this year, but he has already changed how American politics relates to the word “socialism.”

A self-described “democratic socialist,” Sanders has not backed down from the word in his presidential campaign, despite criticism from Republicans and questions from journalists about it.

But that’s not hurt him as it might have candidates of years past, in part because younger voters have a different impression of socialism than those who grew up during the Cold War.

In [one recent survey by YouGov](https://today.yougov.com/news/2016/01/28/democrats-remain-divided-socialism/), voters aged 18 to 29 were the only age group to report more favorable than unfavorable opinions of socialism, by 43% to 26%.

Watch the above video to learn more about how that might affect U.S. politics in the future.


## Transcript

So you call yourself a Democratic socialist. How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States? Well, we're gonna win- Even if Sanders loses, what he will have done is open up some space on the left for people to run that kind of campaign. So I think it there's a young, ambitious politician out there, they might look at some of the things Bernie Sanders is saying and see how they resonate With millennials and say, that's a path that I should start considering. For decades, the word socialist and variants on it were taken for granted as obvious epithets in American politics.

You didn't want to be called a socialist. You didn't want your policies Used to be called socialist. With the collapses of a union, China is really the only major socialist country like that. And it's moved towards more of a market economy. So really the only example of socialism that most young people today can think of are countries like Denmark and Norway. In Finland where it's Democratic socialism which really just means a healthy safety net for citizens and higher taxation rates. American politics moves very slowly and then all at once. Young voters are the bellweather of the future of our politics.

[ MUSIC ] They don't necessarily turn out in large numbers. But all old voters were young voters once. They're getting older every year and they are already changing things like workplace norms, purchasing habits, and how people use the Internet and take selfies. In showing their enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders, their starting to change a little bit of the conversation. But a few years from now when they're displacing some of the older voters, I think you'll start to see a much bigger influence. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

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