I respect and appreciate many of the people who are hopeful Sanders will start his revolution. The reality of why he will never even get started hit me like an epiphany today.
The first reason Democratic Socialism (DS from here out) will not get the flywheel started, let alone get off the ground:
#1. The main and primary claim of DS is this: The masses will coalesce and as one, together we will work for the "common good" of everyone. That's impossible. How do I know this can't happen? In our culture we can't agree on what a healthy lifestyle is -- like which is better, eating meat or being vegetarians, heck, we can't even agree over gas vs charcoal grilling. Our nation isn't simply divided. Our nation is fragmented.
We will never come to a consensus over what the common good is.
We are basically split 50/50 over liberalism & conservationism as it is, so democratically voting on the issue isn't the solution to finding the common good. Our diverse nation has too many agendas floating around, and we will not agree on what is the best path forward for quite some time. Also, think of the chasm that separates religious people of different faiths, and the span that separates the faithful from the secular. All of these worldviews are so far apart, you'll never convince these scattered people what the common good is. But wait, there's more....
The second reason DS will never get off the ground:
#2. Our nation will never submit to a panel of experts within the government that selects our working positions. We are too independent. For DS to succeed, it would have to assign workers to certain fields. Since money is no longer used to motivate people in a DS society, there will be slots that no one will fill willingly. I will not degrade any trade or field of work by coming up with an example, but simply use your imagination to stir up the worst jobs you can think of, then remember work under the DS utopia is volunteer-sourced, and think who in their right mind would take on those horrid jobs, the occupations that you know are wretched. Oh yes, there's more...
The third reason DS will never fly:
#3. If you thought "Who will choose people to work in certain fields against their will?" was a deal breaker, it's about to get way worse. The 3rd reason that DS will never have the majority's support is the biggest question no one is asking about DS: Who enforces the DS policies of work and the redistribution of wealth? It can't be the masses, just reflect on major cities when a natural disaster strikes and people riot and loot.
One might respond to this question of enforcement by asking, "Isn't that why we elect political leaders, it is "Democratic" socialism after all?" The reality is, DS has to have a pyramid leadership structure to keep the plebs in line. For DS to function, there will have to be absolute rulers who are not accountable to others to enforce the policies as an absolute supreme power. We can't even agree in our culture over "spanking" or putting kids in "time out" how would we ever enforce DS?
Sounds like fascism, I know. But use some common sense, how could this DS system ever realistically be enforced? We are strong willed people, with a deep sense of personal identity and independence. If someone in favor of DS were to propose, "We could trust the people to do what's right because they are basically good natured," then we wouldn't need DS in the first place.
In summary: We won't be able to agree to what the common good is ("we the people" can't even agree on which news outlet is trustworthy, and for good reasons), people will not submit to working in certain areas they find unpleasant while other people live an easier lifestyle in a cashless society (talk about a revolution starter), and it's not possible to enforce the polices of democratic socialism (everyone wants their voice to be heard as the loudest). Sadly, we can't even eliminate racism or bigotry, think of all the racists and bigots out there, and you think they will line up with your views?
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