When a person is placed within a hostile system -- say, for example, they are incarcerated in a corporation -- they will usually follow a pattern of behavior. It begins by withdrawing, to whatever extent possible, and accessing the system around them. To identify both “high risk” and “safety zones.” They seek to maintain their individual identity, as opposed to becoming part of that system.
In time, they adjust their perception of the system, along with their behaviors. They begin to relax the boundaries that they had set up. They begin to compromise with that system, in order to make minor advances in their personal comfort level. They begin to justify dealing with the system on the “system’s terms.” Thus, they become part of that system.
When Reagan took office in 1981, there were conservative Democrats who had voted for him over Carter. There were moderates who believed the Gipper had a mandate, and that it was proper to allow his administration to institute Reagonomics. There were liberals who recognized that Reagan was more dangerous than Nixon, and who were intent upon resisting the “Reagan revolution.” And there were progressives, determined to do battle with the beast, no matter what the odds appeared to be.
The conservative and moderates would form a “new” wing of the Democratic Party, which resembled the republican moderates. In the 1990s, of course, Bill Clinton represented this group. As liberals began to adjust to this new system, it would come to define their perceptions. Hence, today we see the conservative, moderate, and much of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party supporting the candidate that champions that system.
Yet, the progressive Democrats -- along with some liberals -- recognize Bernie Sanders as representing the long struggle against the injustices of the Reagan movement. Their support for Bernie is based upon the principles that they have fought for, for many decades. And they know -- exactly as you have stated -- that the 2016 elections provide us not merely the opportunity to pick which warden will run the system …..but rather, it provides a candidate who advocates for the freedoms that our government is supposed to represent.
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