Bernie's Dark Side

Wait, what? Bernie Sanders has a dark side? Well, no, not really. Still I have to shortly state what few problems I personally have with Bernie Sanders' politics, not the man. He's by far the best candidate out there and you all should go out and support him, and vote for him when it's your turn to vote in both elections this year.

There are two points I want to bring under your esteemed attention, dear readers, but first let me reassure you that, no matter what criticism may follow hereafter, my stance on the current political climate, as I've described in my recent posts about the Democratic primaries, hasn't changed one bit; America and the world need the kind of change a Sanders presidency promises to bring. He's the first candidate in decades who has a shot at the White House AND isn't in the race for himself; that alone should be reason enough to forget about all the other Democrats and Trump. That being said, here are the points that we must not overlook in our enthusiasm.

The first point I made earlier when I said that I was quite disappointed in Sanders when he subscribed to the whole Russia gate malarkey; this is a mistake, especially for someone who earned the trust of his followers by being truthful, by speaking truth to power. Both on the debate stage and in interviews Sanders called out Putin and boasted that under his leadership there will be no more Russian interference in the American elections. Obviously this will be used against him by Trump if he were to reach the general elections in November, but more than that it's a sign that on this topic at least, he's bending the knee for the national security shadow government. I don't know if this is out of ignorance or some miscalculated political strategy. It fails as a strategy as well, given Sanders' own point that to win he needs a large voter turnout; people who don't vote because they've lost trust in the entire political process, and there are a lot of them, will have one more reason to stay home and not vote.

Of course, this isn't the first time Sanders sort of retreated in the face of typical right wing critique, but previous occasions I deemed of far lesser importance; like the times he apologized for the online behavior of his fans. This was another obvious mistake by Sanders; by doing this he subscribes to the premise that his online followers are UNIQUELY "bad", which just isn't the case. In recent interviews he does make that point, but he can't seem to lay of the apologies. In the same vein, he can't stop calling his opponents, who smear and back-stab him every chance they get, his "dear friends"; I wish he would stop that already...

The second point is a larger one, and one you might think is reaching too far. To explain, let me just say that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, America's most popular president in history and someone who would be called a communist for sure these days, saved capitalism. Yep, he did that, he saved capitalism. And Sanders is in danger, in great danger of making the same mistake. You see, Roosevelt was in a similar situation; following the Great Depression the American people turned in large numbers to socialism, communism and unions. It's hard to believe, but in the 1920s and 1930s America had a lot of socialist organizations, institutions and political parties; this was before the decades of Red Scare propaganda. What Roosevelt figured was that if the country's elites, the ones who made out like bandits in the period leading up to the Great Depression, didn't quickly give something back to the working people, the pitchforks would come out. "Pay more taxes now and lose some of your wealth, or risk losing it all in the popular uprising that's sure to follow if you don't"; that was more or less the choice given to the plutocrats by Roosevelt.

That is in essence why FDR's victory was only a temporary one; he left the system as it was, capitalism and it's core structure that lead to the grotesque gap between rich and poor in the first place, was left unharmed, unchanged. Sanders isn't the revolutionary the mainstream media and right wing hacks wants you to believe he is; he himself regularly points to Denmark, which is essentially capitalism with a friendlier face, as opposed to the capitalism in your face we now have adapted globally. FDR's reforms proved what happens if you don't change the system at it's core; as soon as the World Wars were over and Roosevelt tragically died, the powers that be started their long campaign to slowly but surely deconstruct any advantage for regular people achieved with Roosevelt's New Deal.

I know, I know; too much change at once might not be realistic and will surely go against most people's instincts. I'm aware of that and I agree with that; I feel it necessary though to point out these facts, even if it's just to steer away from any kind of complacency. A Sanders presidency would be a blessing, for sure, but with it we haven't won the war yet. We have to be thankful though that his movement under his guidance and leadership has created an atmosphere in which these things can at least be discussed. So, if I haven't been clear enough about it, I remind you that there really is no other choice than to vote for the one person who can take us on that first step toward a better and more just future!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and reading my posts dear reader, I appreciate that a lot :-) If you like my content, please consider leaving a comment, upvote or resteem. I'll be back here tomorrow and sincerely hope you'll join me. Until then, keep steeming!