2016 Postmortem

peacebird

(14,195 posts) Fri Jan 29, 2016, 09:22 AM Jan 2016

Great article in Salon about Bernie "I have had it with cynical faux realists attacking Bernie"

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/29/i_have_had_it_with_cynical_faux_realists_attacking_bernie_sanders_idealists/

They articulate a fear that I have heard spoken by many – Bernie is not electable and if Bernie is the Democratic nomination, a Republican (i.e., Trump) will win and we will be in a very dangerous situation. Their solution is to support Hillary rather than rally behind a candidate who — yes, has shortcomings, as do all the candidates — is trying to build a movement that would be there to support his reform efforts. He recognizes that he cannot create the meaningful and systemic change he seeks for the betterment of our country and the world on his own.

There has been throughout history, and will continue to be, a battle between two competing approaches to social change and underlying that, two worldviews. On the one hand, we have the view of Clinton and her supporters – the realists. The realists (and many involved in social change work fall into this camp) argue that we have to fight for what is achievable because otherwise we will be way worse off. In this case that means cast your vote for Hillary because she is more “realistic,” and thus more likely to win. This is essentially casting a vote for the lesser evil. This approach to social and political change is steeped in fear. Those in this camp believe that the only way we can arrive where we want to get is through incremental (i.e., realistic) change. But what they fail to understand is that those with power and money define their definition of realistic. When we narrow our vision of what is possible to what those in power tell us is possible, we actually bolster their power.

...snip...

We need people who are willing to stand together, build a transformative movement for social change that unites people behind a vision of a world based on a New Bottom Line of love, justice, sustainability and reverence for each other, all beings and the planet. (Although we at the Network of Spiritual Progressives don’t endorse candidates or political parties, we are working to build such a movement; you can learn more about our efforts at www.spiritualprogressives.org.) All great movements for social change were initiated by idealists — the abolitionists, the first- and second-wave feminists, gay rights movement, civil rights movement, anti-apartheid movement, Gandhi’s nonviolent movement.