On the actual left there has been stiff opposition to supporting the Bernie Sanders campaign for president. The arguments goes that Bernie is not a real Marxist and never said he was. Most of us realize that Bernie will not make serious differences in the system, the system has plenty of mechanics in place to make sure that doesn't happen.
Most of us know that
elections are rigged so no real Marxist can really get elected
and if they do, the system will wear them down until they give up on their
rebellion (see Salvador Allende)
There is also the argument that the Democratic Party is a
bourgeoisie party and nothing will change that. But at the same time, no
president can get elected without being in one of the two parties. There are
also serious problems with some of Bernie's issues, such as his support for Israel .
I am suggesting that the Bernie Sanders campaign gives us a
chance to both educate about socialism and challenge the bourgeoisie's talking
heads that suggest that socialism is dead.
Also we can't just ignore issues and positions that hinder
or effect how working people's lives. We would be negligent if we allow their
lives to deteriorate because of some right-wing experiment that the bourgeoisie
decided would be fun to impose on working people. We see that now with Tea
Party Republicans who are out to destroy the US infrastructure and any and all
programs that bring relief to either working people or the poor.
We do need to work for a revolution and Bernie will never be
part of that. But in the short run we can use the campaign to try and educate
people. A lot of people are supporting him and over looking the "s"
word; socialism. We need to reach out to people to let them know they don't have
to fear the "s" word and take it one step further; don't fear the
"c" word either. It is the bourgeoisie that needs to fear the words
such as socialism and not the common worker.
Here are a few examples of arguments I have seen on Facebook
about the Bernie campaign:
John Stephenson If self proclaimed marxist communists aren't going to build a
socialist movement and are going to be Democrats, who the heck is going to
build a socialist movement? Claiming that socialism is impossible isn't
actually a pro Bernie argument, it's even more pessimistic than our position.
Alexander
Bergbacka In return, he'll continue wage
slavery, Imperialistic wars, Zionism, the wars of ethnic cleansing currently
waged on people of colour, etc.
Alexander
Bergbacka Absolutely. We *must* educate those
drawn to Sanders about *real* socialism, but make no mistake, he is an enemy of
the highest order, like all Social Democrats.
Jacob Monrean Consider how electing a self-described socialist could change the conversation about socialism and capitalism. It makes perfect sense for a Marxist to support Bernie. Marx was more pragmatic than some of you hard-liners like to believe.
Doug
Greene No one here is saying that you
shouldn't talk to or engage with Sanders' supporters, that's great. They need
to be educated since a lot of them don't know better. But that is different
than providing material support to the Democrats - giving them money, organizing
for them, etc. That is direct support for the enemy and no socialist can do
that without crossing the line.
-There has been sufficient discussion on the pros and cons
of supporting the Bernie Campaign. I don't think any of us really want to
support the Democrats. But some of us want to take advantage of this campaign
for symbolic and educational reasons.
- សតិវ អតុ
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