Socialism is one of those words that’s become so broad that it’s nearly meaningless. In the minds of most Americans, it evokes images of stark grey Soviet housing blocks, long lines for food, and brutal dictatorship. To most people, the economic principles differentiating its more contemporary forms from centrally-planned Marxism mean little or nothing. The emotional reaction is negative. In a country where even our liberal party’s candidates would be considered right wing most other places, this matters quite a lot.

This is a shame, because some core tenants of “socialism” have formed key aspects of many of our world’s most best performing economies, places where innovation and entrepreneurship flourish and continue to grow.

If we look closely at these cases, we see that in time, Bernie Sanders’ policies might be the best case for American businesses’ future.

Let’s take a look at Sweden. The country has some of the highest income taxes on earth. It adopted universal health care long before most other countries in 1955 and was also a leader in making university education free. Yet the country is home to established global companies like IKEA, Volvo, SAAB, and Ericsson while still producing rapidly-growing startups like Spotify, which held a $27 Billion IPO in 2018. Indeed, Sweden is widely recognized as one of the world’s startup hubs.

Many business-people might state that high taxes dissuade innovation and investment in new businesses. Whatever might be the case elsewhere, this has proven exceptionally untrue in Sweden.

Norway, consistently one of the world’s best places to live, has taken some of the “socialist” policies of Sweden a step further. When massive oil reserves were found off the coast of Norway in the past few decades, the country decided to do what would be unthinkable in the US: it nationalized the profits. Instead of simply letting companies go at it, Norway recognized that the finite resource wouldn’t last forever and instead created its now famous sovereign wealth fund, an investment portfolio belonging to the citizens of Norway and now amounting to more than $160,000 per person. The fortune it created belongs to them, and it ensures their high standard of living will long past the time when the natural resources are depleted. Despite this rank “socialism” Norway, too, has a thriving business community.

There’s a reason that businesses in these countries succeed. It’s because the people that comprise those businesses are flourishing.

In America, citizens aren’t seen as a resource. Universal healthcare, free college tuition? They’re criticized as burdens on the economy.

This is short term thinking. These expenses should be seen not as a burden to be born, but as investments in our country’s future. A country IS its people. If those people are not given the tools to compete in the global economy, neither is the country. American people are being deprived of the means to compete into the future, and if it doesn’t end soon, America and its businesses will dwindle and wilt. Other countries that chose to make these investments will prosper. America, who made its choice to hoard its wealth rather than re-invest, will falter and fade. And make no mistake, America’s people are already falling behind.

Wealth inequality, which is massive and growing in our country, is another core tenant of Sanders’ platform. He continually exposes the immorality of this situation (3 men hold more wealth than the bottom half of all Americans), but what’s not being discussed are the absolutely disastrous consequences wealth inequality can have on business growth.

Economies grow when money is spent. The more that money moves, the more wealth is created. It’s how economies grow. And they stop working when the money stops moving. Recessions occur when people fear for the future and hold on to their wealth rather than making purchases.

Were America’s wealth redistributed, economics would predict much a massive business boom. Instead, it lies in the coffers of a few select wealthy men. Instead of money spreading around and creating wealth as it goes, many much of it remains nothing but numbers on a ledger, often being invested overseas rather than staying within the economy that created it or even being off-shored and hoarded.

While easy and convenient in the short term, the current “pro business” platform isn’t truly good for America’s businesses. What it’s good for is ensuring that people who already have lot of money get to keep as much as possible. In the end, if this attitude continues to control our economy, America can look for hard times ahead, with a workers that can no longer compete with those of other countries and who no longer have enough free income to keep the business cycle moving.

Bernie and his friends might be American businesses best bet.