Keep Your Head Up!
The first few days of December 2019 turned out to be joyous and filled with uplifting news, for me personally, for America, and for the world. I'm becoming more optimistic every day about the possibility of real change in American politics, something that hasn't happened since FDR, almost three quarters of a century ago...
Image by geralt - source: Pixabay
The Democratic party in America traditionally represented working class people, much like other left wing parties all over the western hemisphere they were supporters of unionization, affordable housing, medicare and other left wing policies and universal government programs. After half a century of living in a neoliberal world economy it's safe for me to conclude, having seen the transition taking place before my eyes, that working class people have no representation left in politics; currently both political wings work for the interests of their economical elites, their corporate owners. This is why I focus so much on the Democratic presidential primaries and the rise of Bernie Sanders since the 2016 elections.
It was an eye-opener for many people, myself included, to see in 2016 that a candidate who publicly labeled himself a "democratic socialist", in America of all places, almost managed to beat Hillary Clinton in those presidential primaries. Hillary won however and went up against Trump, an event that was unique in modern American history; traditionally the Democrats that run on a populist economic agenda, but that year it was the Republicans, by way of Trump, who spoke to the economical demands of American working class people who were left behind in all of the economical growth of that half century of neoliberal politics by both wings. To this day, the Democratic establishment still pushes for their moderate, centrist candidates to win the nomination for 2020, unable to understand that the message of economic populism has gained so much ground, and is exactly what gave Trump victory over Hillary.
People are not stupid, especially young people who's minds aren't yet infected by the mainstream media's propaganda machine and get their news from social media. Don't get me wrong here: that's not a singularly good development as it has many and serious downsides most of which I assume you're aware of, dear reader, but at least the progressive left leaning voices haven't been silenced entirely yet, as they have been for a long time now in the mainstream. They see how extremely biased mainstream news is, they see and feel how neoliberal economics left them with huge debts, unemployment and a ruined climate; these young adults have grown up in the middle of the socioeconomic circumstances that led to the tumultuous times we live in now, they've seen it happen before their eyes, just as people of my generation saw the working class political parties and the labor unions crumble before our eyes...
That's why 2016, and the rise of Bernie Sanders was so amazingly positive for me to see, and why today I'll share three short videos with evidence that there's a real chance that Bernie can become the next presidential candidate for Democrats! Sanders has been hard at work building a movement from the ground up and beats all other candidates in key areas, most important of which are that he has by far the most individual small donors, all from working class people, with donations averaging around 20 dollar. This not only speaks to the sheer size of his base, but to their dedication as well: it say way more about one's dedication when you're willing to part with some of your hard earned meager income to support a candidate, that when you donate a couple of thousand dollar when you're a millionaire. And even though Bernie has zero billionaire donors, his budget dwarfs that of his direct opponents. Also, Bernie is the second choice for people who have Biden or Warren as their first choice; if these candidates drop in the polls, it's likely that Bernie will pick up those votes. And lastly, Bernie has the most active supporters who call people and knock on their doors to make the case for American leadership that's more equitable, more honest, less corrupt and less imperialistic.
Seriously, Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, has a chance of becoming the new POTUS, something I didn't believe I would be able to say during my lifetime just 10 years ago. Millennials and Gen-Z have been largely responsible for for this popular intellectual shift to a more socialist leaning ideology, and I for one am deeply grateful that they stood up against my generation's political, economical and environmental legacy. Bernie may be old, but he's building a coalition of the young alongside other youthful and enthusiastic movements and people like Justice Democrats and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC is the focus of the first video: she explains something I've written about so many times, something that's almost never discussed anywhere, let alone in politics, yet should be obvious for everyone to see. And she does so by explaining the difference between an iPhone and healthcare, how one is a commodity by its very nature and how the other can never be a commodity by its very nature. And she does it in less than three minutes!
AOC’s Awesome Rant: 'Health Care Is Not An iPhone'
The next video is from The Hill and discusses how the Democratic primaries are shaping up to become a showdown between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with Biden representing the view that going back to business as usual, the state of affairs before Trump's presidency, is enough, and Sanders representing the view that radical change is necessary to finally meet the demands of everyday people instead of corporate interests. Mind you, this is all based on polls and there are very good reasons to assume that Sanders is severely underrepresented in them, but ultimately they're just polls; everything depends on what actually happens when people do, or do not, turn up to vote in 2020.
Krystal Ball: Race narrows to Biden v. Bernie as Warren plummets
The third and final video is an excerpt from the "TMBS Philly Live Show" organized by YouTuber Michael Brooks from The Michael Brooks Show. They briefly discuss, with Krystal Ball from the previous video as a guest speaker, the shift toward neoliberalism by the Democrats and all the reasons why we should all be optimistic about Bernie's chances in the primaries, and illustrates how the younger generations are increasingly aware of the need for real and fundamental changes in American politics. And I, an old man from far away, look at this with joy in my heart. I can only hope you share my optimism; I can tell you, it feels great ;-) There's a ton of things that could go wrong yet, so don't get your hopes up too high, but if you're not a millionaire or a billionaire, take this moment to enjoy the left leaning momentum of this time in history.
Philly Live Show: Krystal Ball Is Optimistic & You Should Be Too
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