[blind-democracy] Re: Bernie Sanders & oppositional criticism

  • From: Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2015 16:36:12 -0400

I was also reacting to the implication in your response to me that the distress
I was expressing about the world in that previous message was solely a function
of my particular situation because you did say

You've identified three very real conditions. I'd say this is where
we find the majority of our clients...> While you are probably physically
isolated more than many of us, you
do have the active interest in what is going on around you. If I had
some magic Fairy dust that would help you not to feel depressed over
world affairs, I'd send it by overnight mail. Maybe you still feel
that you should be physically involved in world affairs?
Well no, I have no illusion that I should be doing more than I can do. Yes, I'd
like it if I could do more, but I'm not dwelling on personal incapacity or
failure to do more because I did what I was able to do when I could. I am sad
because I am watching thins deteriorate around me. I can see it in all sorts of
everyday things in addition to the news. I can see how different the weather is
from the way it used to be. June used to be a beautiful month in New York.
Today it was 97 degrees in my area. I can see the rushed, impersonal
interactions between people, the people at the Rite Aid Pharmacy and me, the
customer service people on the phone, the local stores and the bank which are
no longer local, but chain stores and branches of big banks. There was a time
when I walked into local stores and the people in them knew me. That's all
gone. These are little symptoms of great big changes. I have a black daughter
with an undiagnosed disability who is currently homeless and who may very well
soon be jobless and I know that there is no real safety net to catch her. There
are not even any quality social services in existence anymore that might assist
her. She has a family for help and support. But there are millions like her who
don't. And I'm not even talking about the more purposeful cruelties for which
our country is responsible. So I just do my thing. I send off articles to Blind
Democracy because I know that some people on the list might read them and I
sneak in bits of information when I write a book review for DB Review, and I
drop snippets of information to people who might be willing to hear them.
That's what I'm capable of doing. A lot of people are doing a great deal more,
but I doubt that they can stop the train wreck.

Miriam .

-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 3:39 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Bernie Sanders & oppositional criticism

Well Miriam, words can be so clumsy in expressing deep feelings.
Curious. I can see that this might convey a sense of someone sitting in their
recliner with a glass of wine and a remote, flicking through channels of Life,
nodding and smiling...and maybe drooling a bit. But as deeply as I feel about
the suffering that goes on all around me, and some of it very close to home, I
still have to maintain my own sanity. If I become so involved in attempting to
reach out to the millions of desperate people, I'll quickly end up in my grave.
When I say I am curious, it is because I believe there is more good in people
than there is bad, and I want to hang around to see if I'm right. I hold no
illusions that my feeble efforts to change things
for the better are making much of a dent. But perhaps just a teeny
tiny bit.
After 20 years working with older blind and low vision folks, I could throw up
my hands and say, "To Hell with it! We're no further along than when we first
began." But even though that is the real fact, quitting would gain nothing.
And going out each day in a state of depression would be counter productive.
Should I knock on a door and announce, "Sorry to be here and provide almost
nothing for you because our government has chosen to crap on its older
citizens." I see a piece of my job is to encourage people to hope, to believe
that they can have some control in their lives. And very often we leave a
client, after weeks of effort, knowing that they are no better off.
When I was younger, I really believed that I had failed these people.
I knew that if I tried just a little harder, and if I came up with just the
right words, somehow they would rise from the ashes and become competent, happy
people.
But no, SI'm not just sitting by like a removed observer. Although there is
the observer in me. But to just stand by, nodding and smiling and watching
from a distance? Do you really believe that this is what I was saying? But I
can only be so involved without being sucked into the bottomless pit. And then
what good would I be? As much as I live in, and understand the uglieness of
this world, my inner being protects me from being consumed. I am an upbeat
person.
I have as great a sense of humor as I have of grief. And I will go out
tomorrow and step into someone's life and try my level best to bring hope along
with me.

Carl Jarvis


On 6/23/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,

Let's set my physical complaints aside and look objectively at the
world. I do really take what is happening, very personally. Every
article I read, every book, every news item I hear, all are about real
people and terrible things are happening to them. When you say that
you are curious about what will happen next, it is as if you are
talking about a film you're watching, not real life. A headline just
came into my inbox that tells me that we're one step closer to passing
the TPP. Obama and the Republicans will have their way and real people will
be hurt. Did you catch that bit in Hedgs'
article yesterday about how prison slave labor is working in the fast
food industry? Do you remember that there has been no rebuilding in
Gaza and it's been almost a year since Israel last attacked it? Is it
a good thing that most people are so busy that they don't have time to
think about these things?

And yes, New York has changed a great deal since 1973. Westbury has
changed, and not for the better. The city has changed in complex ways .

Miriam

-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 11:57 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Bernie Sanders & oppositional criticism

Miriam,
You've identified three very real conditions. I'd say this is where
we find the majority of our clients. Of course the third condition,
our personality, probably makes the greatest difference. Even folks
we meet who live with family, can be feeling isolated. Often they
live in a spare bed room with their own TV and a bath room just
outside their door. So they are with family, but actually alone.
In my experience, the people who seem to be the happiest are the ones
who have a network of activities and acquaintances, along with an
interest in what is going on around them. Not always world affairs,
nor even local affairs, but certainly an interest in what is going on
with family and friends.
While you are probably physically isolated more than many of us, you
do have the active interest in what is going on around you. If I had
some magic Fairy dust that would help you not to feel depressed over
world affairs, I'd send it by overnight mail. Maybe you still feel
that you should be physically involved in world affairs? Some of us
never adjust to the limitations of our bodies. I know that I sure
struggle with that aspect of aging. I was complaining to my doctor a
few months back, telling him how I haven't the strength in my lower
back to allow me to do the brush clearing I needed to do.
"Well," he said after a long pause, "You're not a young man anymore.
Have you considered slowing down and taking it easy?" But that made
me think of my great grandmother, sitting in her rocker waiting to go
to be with Jesus. She was barely 74 years old when she died.
I was more inclined to want to compare myself to the couple I knew
when I lived in Ballard, in the north end of Seattle. They had a
neat, orderly little two bedroom house just above the ship canal. She
baked her own bread, and never let me pass by without scooting out
with a bag of fresh cookies. He mowed the lawn with a hand mower and
trimmed the hedges and weeded the flower beds, on his hands and knees.
She did all the house work and kept the windows sparkling. They
clambered into their old Chevy and drove the three blocks to the big
Tradewell super market once a week, to stock up on supplies.
They were both 100 years old. They had been married 78 years when I
knew them. That was back in 1959. I married my first wife the next
June, and moved out of the area, so I do not know if they reached
their goal of 80 years of marriage. Think of being born before Abe
Lincoln was elected president!. Between 1859 and 1959 the entire
world had transformed. The Industrial Revolution was barely underway.
And at 100, they looked up to see huge jet planes trundling overhead.
They had an old black and white TV that one of their three children
had given them. They had central heat and electric lights and a
washer and dryer and a telephone. They had a car instead of a team of
horses. When I would stop by and ask them if I could be of any help,
the old man smiled, scratched his thinning white head and said, "I just can't
think of a thing.
We got all these modern gadgets doing most of the work." I wonder
what he would have thought of this computer...and the cell phone...or the
iPhone.
And now that I think of it, what a different world today, from that
moment back in 1935, in Spokane's Sacred Heart Hospital, when I came
screaming into the world on a blustery April 13th. Do you know, back
when I was a boy the iceman still drove his old horse and wagon around the
streets in Spokane.
Ah me! The changes we've seen. I'll bet even New York has undergone
some small changes in the past 70 or 80 years.
Which makes me chuckle. The last time I was in New York was in 1973.
My son learned to walk at my buddy's home out at Eaton's Neck, Long
Island, at the Coast Guard base. In fact, I still have a copy of the
tapes from the
1973 NFB convention, and in the background you can actually hear the
jingling of Jamie's shoe bells.
Anyway, a couple of years ago I was talking to a friend who had just
come back from New York. I wondered out loud if it had changed much
since I'd been there. When I told my friend that I'd not been there
since 1973, she burst out in hysterical laughter. "Could you imagine
coming back to Seattle after not being here since 1973?
My mind wandered around the city and surrounding areas. Funny, how
much really had changed, even though it seemed to still be the same.
Living among change helps the feeling of sameness, but I do remember
the lady in Port Angeles, who told us that she'd been born three doors
from where she now lived, 100 years ago, and she had grown up,
married, raised three children, worked, buried her parents and later,
her husband and one son, and today, "I don't know this town, and
everybody living here are strangers."
But she was happy. We'd first met this lady when she was a mere 95,
and was trying to figure out how she could thin her carrot seeds now
that she could not see to plant them properly. We showed her that she
could lay a strip of masking tape on the table, sticky side up,
sprinkle her seeds, shake off the excess, and lay the strip down in
the trench in her garden. She already had figured out that if she put
a stake at either end of the row and a string from one to the other,
she could draw a straight shallow trench and place her tape in it.
But I am rambling again. Time to head for Sequim and do some good in
the world.
Take care and know that I'm sending some powerful cheery thoughts out
your way.

Carl Jarvis




On 6/23/15, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl, You're a lucky man. I'm not feeling much excitement or wonder
lately..
This could be due to my physical condition, the state of the world,
my personality, or a combination of all three.

Miriam

-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl
Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 12:29 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Bernie Sanders & oppositional
criticism

Miriam writes: "We talk about free elections, reaching out to the
public, organizing, working toward a better future for everyone. But
ultimately, we are at the mercy of the power elite."
But Miriam, isn't that the way it's supposed to be? I mean, if we
were riding high in the drivers seat, then this big mess would be our
fault, and some upstart little bunch of whipper snappers would be
trying to push us out.
Since the world is one big mess, I prefer to be where I am. Some
people see their lives as a hopeless blink of the eye. I see my life
as a cheery twinkle in an inquisitive eye.
And while neither eye will make a difference in the scheme of things,
at least I'm hopeful and having a good time, too.
I really hope each of us can grab the excitement and wonder that is
all around us. I know that this will not make the world better. But
being depressed or feeling down will not make things better, either.

Carl Jarvis


On 6/22/15, R. E. Driscoll Sr <llocsirdsr@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Since I am one of those who do not know Jill Stein the following is
the result.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein


*Jill Ellen Stein* (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician> who was the nominee of the
Green Party
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_of_the_United_States> for
President of the United States
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States> in
the
2012 election
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_
2
0
12>.^[1]

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-wins-1> ^[2]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-Boston.com-2>
^[3]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-Questionaire-3>
Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_Massachusetts> in the
2002
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_gubernatorial_election,
_
2
002>
and the 2010 gubernatorial elections
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_gubernatorial_election,
_
2
010>.^[4]

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-4> ^[5]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-5> ^[6]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-6> On June 22,
Stein announced that she would seek the Green Party's presidential
nomination during an appearance on Democracy Now!
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Now%21>.

Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexington,_Massachusetts>. She is a
graduate of Harvard College
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_College> (1973) and the
Harvard Medical School
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Medical_School>
(1979).^[7] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-7>
^[8] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-8> ^[9]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-9>

Stein was endorsed for President in 2012 by Noam Chomsky
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky>, a linguist, author and
activist,^[10]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-Stein-10> and by
Chris Hedges <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges>, a
Pulitzer Prize
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize>-winning
journalist <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist> and war
correspondent
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_correspondent>,^[11]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-national_peace_l
e
a
ders-11>

among others. In February 2015, Stein announced the formation of an
exploratory committee to seek the Green Party's presidential
nomination in the 2016 U.S. election
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_
2
0
16>.^[12]

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein#cite_note-considers-12>

^I Know a little more now.


On 6/22/2015 10:59 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
In 2012, no one with whom I spoke, knew who Jill Stein was and in
2016, they still won't know. We live in a mass, impersonal,
fragmented society, in a complex empire operated by financial and
military forces way beyond our control. We, on this list, and the
leftist organizations that we support, are dreamers. We talk about
free elections, reaching out to the public, organizing, working
toward a better future for everyone. But ultimately, we are at the
mercy of the power elite.

Miriam

-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl
Jarvis
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2015 11:28 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: my blog carl jarvis
Subject: [blind-democracy] Bernie Sanders & oppositional criticism

Good article, Roger. And by the way, Jill Stein declared her
intent to run for the presidency this morning on Democracy Now,
with Amy Goodman.


So let me ramble a bit on the upcoming fiasco called the
Presidential Race. In boxing we call it, "The fix is in". There
is no race.
Unless you consider Tweedle Dee Dee and Tweedle Dee Dum sitting on
the fence, a race. Clinton verses Clone does not constitute a Race.
It is the left hand shaking the right hand. But both hands belong
to the same body. Both hands are controlled by the same brain.
Both hands appear to do different things, but both hands will
always do what the brain orders them to do.
That, in my humble opinion, is the American Political Monster.
So, if I am even close to being correct, we can't make this monster
do our bidding. We are under the spell of different brains than
the two hands of the Ruling Monster.
Then why even dabble in this fiasco? Why even campaign for Jill Stein?
Would we really want to place her in the pot of boiling water
called the White House? Ideally, we would better spend our time
planning how to remove the current Monster, with nonviolent means.
Remember, I strongly maintain that violent overthrow merely sets a
nation up for another violent encounter. Usually the takeover by a
Strongman.
We might better spend our time discussing what sort of world we
want for our children/grandchildren.
But the Progressive/Radical Parties are at each others throats,
eager to show the limitations of all others, and the "Rightness" of
their own.
Sort of like the vast array of Christian Denominations.
Maybe the day will come when all these organizations can talk
together without taking everything personally, but we have been so
conditioned to behave in that manner that it is going to be a long
time in coming.
Meanwhile, I am planning to support Bernie Sanders. Why? Because
he does have a fairly broad platform and audience. He will bring
up many domestic issues that the Right Hand would rather not
consider, and the Left
Hand(Clinton) will be forced to pay lip service to. At least this
will force the Monster Brain to work overtime in devising ways to
squelch Bernie Sanders. There is some value, or perhaps simply
some fun, in helping the Monster squirm.
As long as we keep firmly in mind that no matter what happens, the
Monster Brain is going to win.
And after the Primary, I plan to turn my measly support to Jill
Stein, and the Green Party. Still remembering that even if she
were to win, she would be swallowed up by the Monster Brain.
But again, her campaign will bring out issues that would never surface.
Perhaps of all the candidates, Jill Stein would have the greatest
impact on our nightmare called, Foreign Policy. None of the Left
Hand or Right Hand candidates will touch that sacred cow. None of
them, including Bernie Sanders, will dare to take on the mighty
military, the true power center today.
The Corporate Masters are behaving like the Greedy Fools down
through history. They will grab and grab and wake up one day to
discover that the very forces they set in motion to help them
maintain power, are turning on them and taking over. The Corporate
Rulers will become the servants of the New Ruling Class. The
Mighty Military.
But I digress. Bernie Sanders, and then Jill Stein. But it will
only be an exercise to fill in my idle moments.

Carl Jarvis




On 6/22/15, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In the past when I have been asked what I think of Bernard Sanders
I have said that at best he is a social democrat and a right-wing
social democrat at that. I think that Sanders is causing me to
revise that opinion himself. He does not seem to be a social
democrat at all and his claims of socialism have about as much
meaning as others' claims that Obama is a socialist. Sanders is
showing every sign of being nothing more than a bourgeois liberal
and not even a left-wing liberal either.

http://socialistaction.org/bernie-sanders-and-oppositional-critici
s
m
/


Bernie Sanders & oppositional criticism

Published June 21, 2015. | By Socialist Action.
July 2015 Sanders

By JOE AUCIELLO

“… the oppositional criticism is nothing more than a safety valve
for mass dissatisfaction, a condition of the stability of the
social structure.” — Leon Trotsky in his preface to “The History
of the Russian Revolution.”

In early June, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
told a conference organized by Service Employees International
Union members that she backed the $15-an-hour national minimum
wage campaign. She praised the union activists and supporters “for
marching in the streets to get a living wage” and added, “I want
to be your champion. I want to fight with you every day.”

She didn’t really mean it, of course. Within 24 hours her campaign
issued a clarification explaining that in general Clinton favors
higher wages for low-income workers, but she does not specifically
endorse the demand for a $15 hourly minimum. So, union members and
activists heard their hoped-for message; big business and
Democratic Party officials heard the more honest message.

Clinton’s cautious centrism permits her only a flirtation with
leftist causes, thereby yielding the left-of-center space to
another candidate.
Thus, the stage is set for the entrance of Vermont Senator Bernie
Sanders, whose campaign website boldly asks: “Ready to Start a
Political Revolution?”

Sanders certainly intends to become the voice of “oppositional
criticism” in the 2016 election. Thus far, the efforts of this
sometime “socialist,” the independent in the Senate who typically
votes with the Democrats, have been more successful than those of
former Democratic governors Martin O’Malley of Maryland and
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.

Sanders has been drawing increasingly large crowds in the primary
states for his campaign events, and in those states his poll
levels are sharply rising. Clearly, Sanders is saying something
different—which energizes Democratic and independent voters. The
promise of radical change resonates with many whose lives have
seen little benefit during the tepid years of the Obama administration.

At this stage in the primaries, the Sanders platform gives a
public hearing to many progressive ideas. Most notably, the
Sanders campaign directs a spotlight on the obscene levels of
income inequality in America. Sanders speaks out for a national,
single-payer health care system and pledges to pursue efforts to
create sustainable energy to reduce global warming.

He would remove tuition fees from state colleges and universities.
He supports the $15 minimum wage, argues for breaking up the
mega-banks, and promotes a jobs package that would put people to
work by rebuilding the highways and bridges that are deteriorating
throughout America.
These are reforms that, if enacted, would benefit the lives of
millions.
No wonder Sanders’ poll numbers have risen dramatically.

Still, Bernie Sanders is hardly an unknown. Given his
“socialist-light”
political history and voting record, which is virtually
indistinguishable from that of a typical liberal Democrat and
includes support to funding Israel and the war in Afghanistan, it
is fair to ask:
Is Sanders really the voice of dissent? Is he really the figure
who can galvanize the poor, the working class, women, racial
minorities, and youth to lead the political fightback that is so
sorely needed?

Though audiences at rallies may be stirred by soaring speeches,
high-flown words accomplish little. What’s more, a geyser of
popular rhetoric tends to erupt every four years around election time.

A socialist writer has noted that while the Democrats proclaim
themselves “as champions of the poor, their ‘soak the rich’
rhetoric is largely a misrepresentation. They and their Republican
counterparts use such rhetoric only to appeal to voters. Both
parties, over the last decade in particular, have rushed to find
tax breaks for the rich and lower the real income of working people.
Today even two-income families are having a difficult time paying
for basic necessities.”

This observation was made 25 years ago. The article, written by
Hayden Perry, was entitled: “Congress approves new budget: Higher
taxes and fewer services,” which certainly has a present-day ring
to it. Though it was published in the November 1990 issue of
Socialist Action, it could be reprinted today with little change.

Bernie Sanders is this year’s model of the token “leftist” who
will make oppositional criticism as a safety valve for mass
dissatisfaction. His commitment to his causes appears real enough,
but it goes no further than the margins of the Democratic Party.
Those margins cannot and have never sustained a popular movement
that would give real meaning to democracy.

Some fifteen years ago, Ralph Nader launched his bid as the Green
Party candidate for the president of the United States. Although
Socialist Action gave no support to the Green Party’s electoral
campaigns, which only proposed reforms to capitalism, Nader at
least argued with a boldness and insight thoroughly lacking in
Bernie Sanders today. In his 2000 announcement speech, Nader said
that the foundation of his efforts would be “to focus on active
citizenship, to create fresh political movements that will
displace the control of the Democratic and Republican parties, two
apparently distinct political entities that feed at the same
corporate trough. They are in fact simply the two heads of one
political duopoly, the DemRep Party.”

How did Bernie Sanders, the socialist who asks if we are ready for
revolution, respond to the Nader campaign? In his political
memoir, Nader explains: “Bernie had told me that while he
sympathized and agreed with our pro-democracy agenda, he could not
come out officially for us.
The reason was that his modus vivendi with the House Democrats
would be ruptured and he would lose much of his influence,
including a possible subcommittee chair” (“Crashing the Party,” pp.
125-126).
Nader was discreet enough not to inquire about the actual results
of Sanders’
supposed influence.

Little has changed. The fix is still in. The Democratic National
Committee has essentially offered Sanders a simple deal in words
approximately like these: “We’ll let you speak out and give you a
place in the six Democratic primary debates if you affirm your
place as a Democrat. You get to say whatever you want in the state
primaries as long as you support whoever we want in the national
election.”

It is not a very good deal, but it is the only one on offer, and
though Sanders will haggle, pushing for more debates, he will
accept what he is given. It’s what Bernie does. In fact, Sanders
has built a career as the fighting socialist who takes a dive for
the Democrats.

Sanders does not lead and does not intend to. He follows. His
vision of the future is restricted to what has been made popular
in the recent past. The ideas Sanders offers, the program of his
campaign, go no further than the demands raised by the significant
social struggles of the last several years: the Occupy movement
and the environmental movement, especially.

The lesson for activists working for Sanders is quite clear: Do
better work and be more effective by building social protest
movements at the grassroots and national levels. The opportunities
are many and varied.
The Ferguson National Response Network is a good source of
information for protest actions taking place in cities all across
the United States.
The approximately 100 organizations that attended the United
National Antiwar Coalition conference would eagerly welcome new
supporters.

Whether it is 15 Now, Black Lives Matter, local campaigns against
nuclear power plants, struggles for environmental issues, women’s
rights, and more, important causes need the time, energy, and
money that is being poured into the Sanders for President Campaign.

The biggest flaw with Bernie Sanders is not his failure to condemn
capitalism as a system and call for its overturn. It may even be
asking too much to expect Sanders to fight for the structural
reform of capitalism, to demand the nationalization of basic
industries, as the British Labor Party did after World War II, in
a platform that won a national election. The Sanders team will say
the times are not right for such bold measures, that it is enough
if Bernie only wants to soften some of the system’s worst excesses.

But the time has come—in fact, the time is long overdue—to show a
new generation of activists just what the Democratic Party is and
why it is necessary to move past it. Bernie Sanders fails to take
that decisive step. His campaign by its very nature misleads
activists by asserting that the Democratic Party is a fit
instrument for the kind of social change that is needed to
transform America.

A socialist who truly merits the term “independent” once said,
“Capitalism rules and exploits the working people through its
control of the government. … And capitalism controls the
government through the medium of its class political parties. …
The unconditional break away from capitalist politics and
capitalist parties is the first act of socialist consciousness,
and the first test of socialist seriousness and sincerity” (James
P. Cannon, “Speeches for Socialism,”
pp. 339-340, emphasis added).

Sanders has been compared to a “sheep-dog” who herds people into
the Democratic Party. A better analogy might be drawn from the
world of sports. In the preparation for a championship bout,
boxers hire sparring partners to help them train and get into
shape for the real match. That opponent is there to fight but not
fight too much.
Though putting on a lively show before losing, the sparring
partner should not cause the real boxer any serious injury, much
less draw blood.

This type of dynamic is underway now in the Democratic Party
primaries.
Bernie Sanders is primarily a sparring partner for Hillary Clinton.







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Posted in Elections. | Tagged Democratic Party, Democrats, Sanders.







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