There’s not a whole hell of a lot that’s new here, but it’s important to remember that if you’re not recognizing the country we’ve known, colonialist and imperialist as it’s been over the years, you’re not alone.
There’s not a whole hell of a lot that’s new here, but it’s important to remember that if you’re not recognizing the country we’ve known, colonialist and imperialist as it’s been over the years, you’re not alone.
Sanders will talk about addressing those things then tell us we need to support the people enabling those things. He’s a sheepdog. Where’s this version of Bernie been hiding the last 4 years? All this populous talk ended right after he asked us to vote for his good buddy Biden. Now that he doesn’t need to protect a committee chair seat he’s come out of hibernation.
Sanders has literally had a consistent message of beliefs since the 1960s. I don’t agree with every tactic he chooses, but I understand why he backed Biden over Trump once he was locked out of the general.
If you can show me some progress you or anyone else has made on getting those things (e.g. universal healthcare) through alternative means, I’d be very interested to see it. Republicans are at this point straight evil. The Democratic Party at a leadership level is a bunch of entrenched wealthy neolibs who would rather see Republicans win than lose ground to actual progressives like Sanders, AOC, etc.
People believing that that makes the 2 parties the same thing, are either so bought into their own defeatist nihilism that they can’t recognize anything but instant and total victory as progress, or they’re intentionally trying to torpedo change via democratic means (maybe to validate their beliefs that they know the “proper fix” without actually having to actually have those preferred systems tested).
Sanders is inside the party, using his platform and the broad dissatisfaction post-election to push the party leadership. He’s literally striking while the iron’s hot. If you see that as a negative thing, or if that makes you doubt him, I don’t know what to tell you.
Bernie is an independent leftist. That he caucuses with the Dems does not make him such.
But he’s ultimately a pragmatist, looking to do that weird thing we don’t expect of politicians: Making people’s lives better.
We’re so used to getting fucked by our handlers that it seems most can’t recognize someone with a coherent, consistent stance over decades.
The nationwide free breakfast program for students was created directly in response to the black panthers free breakfast program. Prefiguring a better society through direct action and political education has proven more effective than engaging in electoral politics.
SBP (which is only one relatively small and highly means-tested example) was passed by elected politicians. BPP didn’t put it in place themselves, elected politicians in office who were in favor of it used the opportunity of national attention to push other elected politicians to pass it. And that is just one of many student food assistance programs, most of which were not passed due to attention created by direct action.
I’m not arguing against direct action, I’m just disputing that it’s been “more effective” than other means. The advantages that community action provides are around being highly agile and highly targeted. It can’t provide countrywide, uninterrupted assistance programs, because no community groups have the resources necessary for that. The BPP could never have provided free lunches for students nationwide by themselves, and they didn’t want or attempt to.