Healing after Bernie

As a self-declared democratic socialist and an over-seas supporter of Bernie Sanders, when he decided to drop out of the 2020 democratic primary without any fight, the disappointment was painfully visceral.

In 2016, when he dropped out and supported Hillary Clinton, personally, I didn't follow American politics until the day of the general election. After the disastrous last term of Obama, that is punishing whistle blowers, killing US citizens overseas, supporting NAFTA, and bailing out the banks during the 2008 recession, while permitting millions of U.S. citizens to lose their homes, I thought Clinton could win against Trump by a small margin. Well as they say, the rest is history. If Bernie Sanders wasn't cheated, however, would he have won by running third party?

Speculative certainly, but he had already answered this question to author and activist, Chris Hedges in 2016. When asked, Bernie responded: No, I don't want to end up like Ralph Nader. For those younger readers, Nader was a consumer advocate, and ran for president in the 70's. In fact, the activist didn't do that badly in the election, but the DC establishment turned on him, he became a pariah, ignored by the main stream press, and was exiled into obscurity. Bernie knew that same thing would happen to him. He would eventually lose his senate seat, and the establishment/media would turn against him, and he too, would become a mere footnote in American political history.

Many have asked the question as to whether this was the correct decision. For certain, the DNC is a powerful political machine, a pro-corporate-war machine, and whose resources are deep and endless. In the end, Bernie didn't want to take the chance, and desired to remain in politics as a senator, and push his social policies. All fair and good, however, since dropping out of the 2020 race, he has lost credibility in many progressive camps. We don't find him as a man of conviction anymore, but just another DC politician on the take, and brown nosing the military industrial complex.

The reality of Bernie is he began a powerful movement, and this movement is growing not only in the United States but around the planet. This is a movement for the people against corporate America, where the people are considered secondary to corporate profit. This is a movement who recognises we are in a ecocide situation with climate change, and urgently need to change our fossil fuel habits. A movement that understands the power must be returned to the people, before the oligarchy manages to destroy everything.

Our problem was/is that to put all our eggs in a single “saviour basket”; depending on one individual to save us, is at best, infantile. Bernie started a popular “left” movement, and we should continue to protest at home, be vigilant, and push these positive policies in every aspect of our lives.

Sure, many of us who believed Bernie was the man to bring these changes is disappointed. But after grappling with what American politics actually is, a corporate reality show, we simply need to organise on a grassroots level again...and never give up the fight.