This afternoon my girlfriend showed me a post that had appeared on her facebook wall angrily decrying the media calling the Democratic race for Hillary. She lambasted the presumed candidate as inconsistent and untrustworthy and ultimately fallible. She said that her vote was with Bernie no matter what.
Here’s the thing - this woman made some salient points. Unfortunately, they’re also misguided. And it has nothing to do with her support of Sanders. The same could be said of some of the more die-hard Hillary supporters, or of Trump’s hordes of hat-wearing fans. Because ultimately all three of these people (yes, even Trump) are politicians, and as such, they’re human beings. And human beings are inconsistent and untrustworthy and ultimately fallible. Let me explain.
The Sanders movement has been incredible. The fact that an old Jewish socialist from Vermont could come within reach of a major party nomination is a remarkable thing. The fact that he’s done it with such a fundamentally grass roots campaign, a groundswell of support from ordinary people (mostly) is astounding. His campaign has truly been a demonstration of the power that each one of us as citizens and active members of our democracy can wield. His words and his policies have captured the hearts and minds of people from all over the country who had been disenfranchised with the political system. In Sanders, these forgotten voters found something to believe in.
Trouble is, we saw the exact same thing happen in 2008, when a junior senator from Illinois defied all the odds to become the first black president in history. Obama’s message of hope and change brought young people and the disenfranchised to the polls in record numbers. They came out in force to campaign for him, and when the votes were counted and he was declared the next President of the United States, it felt like a new dawn in America.
And then…
Nearly eight years later, while it’s hard to argue that Obama hasn’t been an effective President (I personally think he’ll go into the history books as one of the better leaders we’ve had, up there with Lincoln and Washington and FDR), it’s also hard to argue that Obama has accomplished everything we believed he would, or even what he said he would when he was running. And while most of that is the result of GOP obstructionism, it’s pretty clear that he’s a centrist as far as his personal politics go. Hell, forty years ago, his policies would have made him a pretty electable candidate for the Republican nomination. And while I admire the man, and I approve of the job he’s done, I wouldn’t exactly call him the savior we thought he’d be.
So when I see the Sanders supporters pinning all of our hopes on Bernie, I can’t help but wonder why we still keep going down this path. Because Sanders, like Obama, is just one man running for the presidency. And if he were to get elected, he’d have to submit to the same level of compromise and diplomacy that every one of his predecessors found themselves subject to. And even if he was given a supportive Congress, he’d still have to deal with all of the bureaucratic bullshit that every elected official at every level of government deals with. It’s the same story for Hillary. Hell, even a President Trump wouldn’t have the ability to just do whatever the hell he wanted to without consent from the Congress, thankfully. Rapid change in governmental policy is non-existent in this country. It’s just the way our system works, and as long as the voting public remains apathetic save for every four years, it’s going to stay that way.
And that’s the problem. For while the Sanders groundswell has been breathtaking and important, it’s misdirected. As long as we keep looking for one person to change everything, things aren't going to change that much. Because ultimately politicians, like all humans, will fail. They’ll encounter obstacles they can't overcome, and the policies they espoused that we got so excited about will be left by the wayside when they can’t make any headway. And those policies will take decades to become laws, if at all. Look at the ERA. Look at banking reforms. Look at healthcare. Look at the minimum wage. Look at most major pieces of legislation that weren’t decided by the courts. With a few notable exceptions, most of the progress we’ve made in government has taken a generation or more to actually get instituted.
But that can change. And it starts and ends with us.
Instead of pinning our hopes and dreams on a candidate, let’s focus instead on the policies. Let’s use the energy that we devote to getting our leaders elected to enact change at a policy level. Let’s start a movement that isn't directed toward people, but instead toward the ideas they share with us. For instance, all the Bernie supporters that made up the enormous groundswell for the candidate: let’s direct those same energies into supporting his policies, whether he becomes President or not. If you feel passionately now about income inequality, or clean elections, or climate action, or immigration reform, or living wages, or universal healthcare, or any of the policies you associate with Bernie, don't just give up if he doesn’t get the nomination. There are ways to get involved in the fight to see those policies enacted at every level of government, ways to channel our excitement at what Bernie represents into actually getting those things done, with or without him. Links are below.
This is my call to action. Bernie’s supporters have shown that one person who gets involved with a movement can make a difference. He never would have gotten this far without you. But he’s just one man, and there are millions of us who believe in the same things he believes in. We don't have to give up even if he doesn’t win. Don't give up. Keep fighting for what you believe in. And for everyone else who believes that people should be treated fairly, that everyone in this country should have an equal shot at achieving their goals and their dreams, I urge you to get involved as well. One candidate isn't going to change the world. It takes all of us, working together and with resolve, to make this country and this world a better place. We don't need a savior. It’s up to all of us.
LINKS TO GET INVOLVED AT A POLICY LEVEL:
Income inequality: http://inequality.org/organizations/
Universal, free college tuition: www.freecollegenow.org
Get money out of politics (multiple links): http://billmoyers.com/2014/11/21/8-ways-get-money-politics/
Living wage (multiple links): http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/minimum-wage-living-wage-resources/organizations-working-on-minimum-wage-and-living-wage/
Climate action: http://350.org/
Immigration reform: www.fairimmigration.org
Affordable housing: nlihc.org
Single payer healthcare for all: https://www.healthcare-now.org/action-center/