Trish Regan recently interviewed Thor Halvorssen on FOX New’s The Intelligence Report about the subject of socialism. The definition of socialism and the distinction between communism and socialism as philosophies of government has attracted considerable attention during the 2016 U. S. presidential campaign. Considerable press attention has focused on the fact that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, running for the Democratic nomination this year, supports Western European-style socialism as a governing philosophy.
Mr. Halvorssen, the President and Founder of the Human Rights Foundation, defended free markets. Yet during his discussion, he also drew a sharp distinction between constitutional governments with socialist policies and authoritarian socialist governments which infringe upon basic human rights.
Thor Halvorssen noted that Norway, Sweden and many other freely elected governments maintain socialist policies and do adhere to the law. These governments differ markedly, he suggested, from dictatorial regimes that mistreat people in the enforcement of government policies. Around the world, some regimes with authoritarian leaderships, proclaim socialist ideals in public yet in practice fail to honor the lawful framework of constitutional democracies.
Mr. Halvorssen noted that important distinctions exist between socialist governments which follow the law and dictatorships that use socialism as a mask to loot the country. He does not support authoritarian dictatorships that violate human rights. Perhaps to the surprise of some FOX viewers, he noted that he had personally made the largest allowable contribution to the Bernie Sanders campaign because he would prefer to see Mr. Sanders as the Democratic Party front runner.
In response to Trish Regan’s questioning, the Human Right Foundation President disclosed that several of his own family members had suffered mistreatment from the authoritarian regime of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. The authoritarian Venezuelan regime imprisoned his father as a political prisoner. The Venezuelan regime also shot his mother and presently holds one of his cousins as a prisoner.
Thor Halvorssen noted that he sees important distinctions between constitutional democracies with socialist policies and authoritarian regimes that use socialism as a mask to violate the law and redistribute wealth illegally. He concluded that he would much rather see a democratic socialist in the White House than someone who obtains backing from dictators.