I think the biggest reason Bernie gets more hate from the Left is because in many ways people were radicalized by him, and then outrgrew him. He’s disappointing. He did a good job of getting many liberals to adopt more progressive views, but he will constantly fold because that’s all he can do with the strategy he takes. Electoralism doesn’t work, and those radicalized by Bernie increasingly see that and feel betrayed.
There are also those that weren’t radicalized by Bernie, and thus always saw him as a sheepdog for the Empire.
I understand that his lack of success is due to the way the US government works. My point is that that’s the primary impedement for him, trying to work with a system designed against change, rather than trying to undermine that very system.
The fact that it’s been the primary strategy for achieving genuine positive change against the will of the ruling vlass for as long as class society has existed.
Yes, I appreciate that Bernie moved me further left than I was already. Although, if I had more political consciousness before Bernie arrived on the scene, that shift would have happened irregardless. I dropped out of politics for about a good decade (after being disillusioned with Obama’s first term) and he got me back thinking that a real progressive had a shot.
But after the last ten years, it’s quite evident that the progressive wing of the Dems are merely a pressure release valve, same that the Dems are for the Republicans. It just keeps people endlessly mired within the constraints of a system that will not move leftward no matter the consequences of not doing so.
After reading enough Marxist literature, it’s clear Marx was right, and that only a revolution ending in the dismantling of the current system and installation of a worker’s controlled one, will create any meaningful and lasting change for the working classes.
A fantastic book covering the American political system, is “Democracy Inc” by Sheldon S. Wolin, which wrote about how the system is constructed to give the semblance of democratic participation but, is in fact, what he terms a “managed democracy”, in which the levers of the democratic processes are manipulated to a minute degree. He wrote this book in ~2006, I believe, which just goes to show how long this horse and pony show has been going on for (probably FAR longer).
I think the biggest reason Bernie gets more hate from the Left is because in many ways people were radicalized by him, and then outrgrew him. He’s disappointing. He did a good job of getting many liberals to adopt more progressive views, but he will constantly fold because that’s all he can do with the strategy he takes. Electoralism doesn’t work, and those radicalized by Bernie increasingly see that and feel betrayed.
There are also those that weren’t radicalized by Bernie, and thus always saw him as a sheepdog for the Empire.
He’s quite literally alone in the senate. He cannot do anything do himself, that’s not how a Republic works.
I understand that his lack of success is due to the way the US government works. My point is that that’s the primary impedement for him, trying to work with a system designed against change, rather than trying to undermine that very system.
What makes you think that would be any more successful?
The fact that it’s been the primary strategy for achieving genuine positive change against the will of the ruling vlass for as long as class society has existed.
Yes, I appreciate that Bernie moved me further left than I was already. Although, if I had more political consciousness before Bernie arrived on the scene, that shift would have happened irregardless. I dropped out of politics for about a good decade (after being disillusioned with Obama’s first term) and he got me back thinking that a real progressive had a shot.
But after the last ten years, it’s quite evident that the progressive wing of the Dems are merely a pressure release valve, same that the Dems are for the Republicans. It just keeps people endlessly mired within the constraints of a system that will not move leftward no matter the consequences of not doing so.
After reading enough Marxist literature, it’s clear Marx was right, and that only a revolution ending in the dismantling of the current system and installation of a worker’s controlled one, will create any meaningful and lasting change for the working classes.
Yep, the entire system is built to give the illusion that it’s capable of change, while giving all of the reigns to Capital.
A fantastic book covering the American political system, is “Democracy Inc” by Sheldon S. Wolin, which wrote about how the system is constructed to give the semblance of democratic participation but, is in fact, what he terms a “managed democracy”, in which the levers of the democratic processes are manipulated to a minute degree. He wrote this book in ~2006, I believe, which just goes to show how long this horse and pony show has been going on for (probably FAR longer).
It’s been going on since the conception of the US Electoral system, that’s what it’s been designed to do from the beginning.