Bernie Sanders still believes there's hope for progressives even in the age of Trump
Luca Trenta
Lecturer in International Relations, Swansea University
June 7, 2017
Excerpts:
When Bernie Sanders took to the stage at this year’s Hay Festival, it was to a room of cheers and clapping. The US senator may not have been nominated as the Democrat candidate, but his international influence and support has certainly not disappeared in the year since his fight for the White House ended.
Future progression
Trump notwithstanding, the future of the US in Sanders’s eyes is a progressive one. Before the elections, the Democratic Party accepted much of the platform behind Sanders’s campaign. Today, Sanders argues, legislators in Congress are pushing many of the measures included in his platform.
While acknowledging problems, Sanders has massive confidence in the power of the people to make things happen. On the Supreme Court, for example, he quips that it “does not live on Mars” and if the people are committed, even a conservative court can accept progressive change, as in the case of marriage equality.
When a young member of the Hay Festival audience asked what she can do for change, a passionate Sanders replied:
''Rethink your role in a democratic society … Stand up and fight back and you will be surprised at the amount of change you can achieve.''
There is hope, even in the age of Trump.
http://theconversation.com/bernie-sanders-still-believes-theres-hope-for-progressives-even-in-the-age-of-trump-78850
