Bernie’s Progressive Momentum Is What Political Revolutions Are Made Of

[GoLeft TV]

If you look at the rift within the Democratic Party, it’s clear that the division is between populism and pragmatism – those who want to see change and those who are content with the way things are because they seem to have lost hope. But the voices demanding change are becoming louder, as evidenced by Bernie Sanders’ strong campaign. He’s riding a wave that began with the Occupy Wall Street movement, but the only question is how do we keep that momentum moving forward?

Farron Cousins discusses this with Les Leopold, author of the new book Runaway Inequality.

[cantbeserious]

1. Know Thy Enemy - Oligarchs, Corporations, Banks And Their Media Minions And MIC Henchmen

eom

[malokvale77]

2. + anybody in bed with them. nt

[cantbeserious]

3. Roger That

eom

[swilton]

4. The boomerang effect and social movements

One of the classic features of a 'social movement' is the 'boomerang effect' - a process where international actors exert pressure on domestic politics to bring about change. According to Keck and Sikkink (Activists Beyond Borders)

Transnational aadvocacy networks appear most likely to emerge around those issues where (1) channels between domestic groups and their governments are blocked or hampered or where such channels are ineffective for resolving conflict, setting into motion the 'boomerang' pattern of influence characteristic of these networks; (2) activists or 'political entrepreneurs' believe that networking will further their missions and campaigns and actively promote networks; and (3) conferences and other form of international contact create arenas for forming and strengthening networks.

I see this happening in some ways in this election due to the presence of so many international students coming to the US to assist with the Sanders campaign. I have seen/heard about this happening from some of my NH out-of-state contacts. For example just yesterday one of the volunteers from NY was telling me that there were Danish and German students working on this campaign. Further, I have seen this (Spanish speaking volunteer students) in one of the videos from the Iowa campaign.