Bernie Sanders Is Changing American Politics—But He’s Not Thinking Big Enough

[eridani]

http://inthesetimes.com/article/18469/bernie-sanders-socialists-left-hillary-clinton-republicans

Bernie at recent meeting before 2,000 people at the University of Chicago on Monday exhorted his audience to “think big!” He’s right: We should be thinking big. Bernie made socialism attractive and relevant in a way that the long-established broad Left in the United States hasn’t accomplished in many decades of hard work. Something has changed in U.S. politics, and the Left seems woefully behind the times.

For me, this means we should be putting forward a discussion about political strategy to Bernie supporters and critics, revisiting older debates about the Left and the Democratic Party while also recognizing the importance of newer political campaigns such as Black Lives Matter and the struggle against eco-catastrophe—struggles that could fundamentally reshape American politics.

Let’s put it this way: Is Bernie’s campaign in form and substance a fairly traditional liberal Democratic campaign with an anachronistic socialist label attached to it, or could it help birth a new socialist movement? If it is to be about the latter, what political strategy is being put forward to bring it about? How can the Sanders campaign go beyond relatively minor, short-term victories around attack ads to accomplish a major political transformation?

For several decades, many socialists, trade unionists and liberals put forward a strategy of “realignment.” In a nutshell, the argument went like this: liberals and the Left should build up the political forces of trade unions and the civil rights movement (and later other by other progressive social movements such as the Vietnam anti-war movement, women’s and other social movements) in the Democratic Party to force out the old “Dixiecrat” wing of the party.

This realignment of political forces inside the party, it was hoped, would transform it into a political party more akin to a European-style labor or social democratic party or, at the very least, something like the Old Canadian New Democrats. This newly transformed party could potentially implement the type of pro-working class political agenda that could make the United States into a more European-style social democratic country.

[PatrickforO]

1. The one 'big' thing Bernie isn't advocating, which to my mind he should,

is to abolish the Fed and nationalize our central bank. When we were still colonies, Pennsylvania and New York both had very successful economies with abundance and not want because they printed their own money and then loaned it out. The interest payments financed other government programs. Lincoln also did this during the Civil War.

Foreign banking interests attacked this currency both times and finally after doing battle for two centuries bribed Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Get rid of the Fed and we are no longer slaves to Wall Street.

Everything else Bernie wants is fine.

Note that I'm a strong supporter of Bernie because he's starting us back along the right path - the one that leads away from neoliberal capitalism.

[merrily]

2. He did about the Fed what was practically attainable, which was much better than nothing.

[merrily]

3. A lone Democratic Socialist in federal elected office and either he is turning the country Communist

or he falls short because he hasn't yet turned the US into Finland.

Either way, no matter how much or how little he does about anything, it's just not good enough.

Meanwhile, arrayed against him is the entire plutonomy, including the vast majority of media and most of the Democratic Party. Chest heaving sigh.

Now back to enthusiastically donating and volunteering as much as I possibly can and urging others to do the same.

Go, Bernie!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. I don't think that he falls short, but I do agree with the OP

that it would be good for the country if he also was seen to spend time promoting unionism to Americans who aren't part of unions. Now there's not enough hours in the day for him to personally do everything that needs done, but if he could be seen to announce the creation of a task force to reinvigorate and regrow unions and create a central clearinghouse to support people fighting against 'right to work' during his time as leader of the Democratic Party, I think that would be extremely helpful. Let others do the work, but give it his imprimatur. Perhaps issue a call for more union members to take part in local level party politics and run for office to try and push out more of the centrists who are running the establishment 'farm teams'.

(ETA: I didn't mention the civil rights side because he does already seem to be getting more press in re his work with them now, but they too need to be encouraged and supported in getting more people into office.)

[merrily]

5. I don't think he falls short by a long shot. I was mocking his many critics.

He has been seen to promote unions, including while on the campaign trail. He's been picketing with workers very visibly for a long time.

[Vincardog]

6. I want him to advocate for a Guaranteed Miumum Income for all People paid for by a Minimum Corp Tax

Take the billions in tax refunds we are paying to Corporations that pay ZERO federal tax.

Add the Billions in taxes a Federal Minimum Corporate tax would add.

Add the hundreds of billions from taxing their "offshore" earnings.

Add a VAT

Trillion needed to give EVERY PERSON a MINIMUM of $36,000/year

Plus the savings on food stamps and welfare.