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' SOCIALIST STIFTUNG NEW YORK OFFICE By Ethan Earle Bernie Sanders’ Socialist America

By Ethan Earle

I was born in North Carolina, but my parents ments in the country. This last measure has en- are from and I grew up taking long sured the preservation of low- and middle-in- summer road trips up the east coast to visit our come housing and calmed gentrification in the family in Burlington, the state’s largest city with midst of a waterfront revitalization develop- just over 40,000 people. It was on one of these ment project that has otherwise transformed trips, sometime in the early 1990s, that I first the city’s downtown. Bernie the Leftist invited learned about Bernie Sanders and his uniquely to speak at city hall and trav- American brand of democratic . eled to to meet with and establish a Sandinista sister city. Bernie Vermont is an odd little place. It is 49th of fifty the Administrator balanced the city’s budget states with just 626,000 people, the vast ma- and oversaw the transformation of Burlington jority of whom live in small farming towns dot- into what is regularly considered one of the nic- ted around the Green Mountains that run like est and most livable cities in the United States. a spine up its length. Vermonters are charac- terized by a proud sense of self-reliance mixed In 1990 Bernie ran for the U.S. House of Rep- with a stubbornly independent and occasional- resentatives and became its first Independent ly revolutionary streak. The state was founded member in forty years. He quickly moved to by a breakaway militia during the Revolution- found the Congressional Progressive Congress, ary War. It would later become the first state to this day one of the few leftist bulwarks on to abolish slavery and play a crucial role in the . He criticized politicians from both Underground Railroad, hiding escaped slaves parties for being subservient to corrupt Wash- in its sinuous terrain and shepherding them ington logic. He came across as an ever-seri- across its northern border to Canada. Growing ous, one-pitch politician, at all times earnest up I would hear these stories told as proof that and alarmed about the crises our country is Vermonters are engaged citizens who don’t take facing. If at times his manner could be gruff, kindly to injustice or political doublespeak. his social graces lacking, there was never any doubting that he cared deeply about his work. In 1980 -born Bernie Sanders entered He would soon emerge as an important na- Vermont politics stage left, running for mayor tional voice on issues ranging from income in- of Burlington as an Independent and self-de- equality and universal healthcare, to campaign scribed democratic socialist. He defeated the finance reform and LGBT rights. He would later five-term incumbent by ten votes and would become a prominent early critic of the subsequently be reelected three times. During and domestic surveillance programs like the his period as mayor Bernie became widely . known as an outspoken leftist, but also, cru- cially, as an effective administrator. He opened Basically Bernie stayed the course he had set the city’s first women’s commission, supported from the start—that of an unabashed progres- the development of worker , and sive who bases his work on principled indepen- initiated one of the first and most successful dence and the stubborn notion of getting stuff state-funded community-trust housing experi- done. Back in Vermont, where since 2006 he

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has served as senator, Bernie continues to be million from more than a million individuals incredibly popular, winning 71% of the vote in and a record 2.5 million total contributions. He his most recent election and consistently hold- is receiving consistent front-page coverage in ing among the highest constituent approval rat- every major U.S. media and is the subject of ings of any U.S. politician. His well-known refus- vertiginous numbers of tweets, shares, me- al to run attack advertisements, as well as his mes, and general Internet chatter. His ma- doggedly old-fashioned commitment to finding jor challenger and still-frontrunner—former common ground with political figures on the Secretary of State, Senator, Presidential First other side of the aisle, has only strengthened Lady, and Democratic establishment darling his reputation. But his greatest achievement, —was positioned as the most and the secret to much of his success, has been unstoppable candidate in a generation just six to build a new political consensus in the state of months ago. As of this writing, in mid-January Vermont. Of course he appeals to most dyed-in- 2016, she clings to a seven point lead nationally the-wool liberals, but he draws his real strength and is in a dead heat in the first two primary from small-town white working families, not states, which historically act as bellwethers typically known (at least in recent decades) for for the rest of . Even more amazing- their democratic-socialist proclivities. ly, Bernie Sanders is doing this without taking money from corporations or receiving backing My family is a family of hairdressers, with a cou- from virtually any establishment group, all the ple of nurses and electricians mixed in. We’re while trumpeting the virtues of democratic so- a family of hunters and Katy Perry fans. We’re cialism and telling anybody who will listen that a family that contemporary American political this country needs a political revolution. culture has made to believe its voice doesn’t count. And I can tell you with all honesty that Having spent decades working on policy, it Bernie Sanders has made my family think dif- should come as no surprise that Bernie’s cam- ferently. Heading into the upcoming presiden- paign platform is broad and detailed—wonkish, tial primary, almost every one of them—other- one might say. Perhaps wonkish but not mud- wise liable to go Republican in any given elec- dled: he leaves no doubt that his greatest pre- tion—will be casting their vote for Bernie Sand- occupation is the inequality that increasingly ers. When I’m up in Vermont we don’t usually defines the U.S. economy. He proposes to raise talk politics, but when we do we talk Bernie. I the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2020. can hear my aunt say now: “I might not agree He promises to create millions of jobs through with everything he says or does, but I know federal and youth programs. He he means what he says and believe in what he says he will expand Social Security, provide does. I know he’ll never sell us out and he’ll al- free education at all public universities, and ways give it to us straight.” extend universal healthcare to all people in the U.S. through a single-payer system. His plan to +++++ pay for these programs is simple: raise taxes on wealthy individuals and large corporations, Senator Bernie Sanders’ increasingly un-quix- and tax speculative financial transactions. otic campaign to become the 45th President of the United States has stirred strange and In the stories Bernie tells of how America be- restless spirits in the American public. He has came one of the most unequal major coun- drawn far larger crowds and generated more tries in the world, he reserves special wrath enthusiasm than any other candidate in either for the large financial institutions he considers party. During 2015 his campaign received $73 responsible for the 2007-08 financial crisis. He

2 ETHAN EARLE BERNIE SANDERS’ SOCIALIST AMERICA

laments that not a single bank executive went in contrast, is funded mostly by wealthy indi- to prison for their role in the crash, contrast- viduals and corporations; six of her ten largest ing this to a criminal justice system that has donors are banks. imprisoned millions of people for low-level, non-violent offenses. He calls for the imple- Bernie believes there has been a corporate mentation of a 21st century Glass-Steagall Act, takeover of American , and this is which prevented commercial banks from en- where he returns to the idea of political revo- gaging with investment banks from 1933 until lution. In nearly every speech he makes this it was effectively repealed under the watch of clarion call, and he is always unequivocal about President in 1999. More recently he the fact that neither he nor any other politician announced that, if elected, he would break up can make the necessary changes alone. Bernie’s all “” financial institutions during idea of political revolution starts with the Amer- the first year of his administration. ican people getting out to vote in record num- bers—including a rollback of racist Republican However, his fiery brand of economic disenfranchisement measures—taking back does not alone explain why millions of people our democracy, and demanding the types of re- have come to “Feel the Bern,” the viral hashtag forms he proposes to increase our control over that has become a slogan for the campaign. the national economy and political process. Rather it is that he speaks so directly to a broad- +++++ er moment in our country’s history. Person- al debt and are at record Not surprisingly the powers that be are not highs, and the generation now coming of age happy about Bernie, and the biggest offense has been socialized by the Iraq War and Great has been taken—also not surprisingly, if sad- Recession; raised on myths about the American ly—by the Democratic establishment. Their Dream while being fed the realities of downward candidate, Hillary Clinton, has thus far received mobility for all but the elite and lucky few. In this 455 endorsements from governors and con- context, it is his indictment of the system as not gressional representatives, compared to three just broken but fixed—designed to perpetuate for Bernie Sanders; she has been endorsed by control by a small elite comprised of politically 18 unions representing 12 million workers ver- entrenched capital interests—that has made sus his three unions representing one million his campaign catch fire in such a startling way. workers. Among so-called —an unpleasant particularity of the U.S. electoral In addition to his economic proposals, the oth- system that together constitute about one- er cornerstone of Bernie’s campaign is a call third of party votes and are not democratically to get big money out of politics. He advocates accountable to actual voter preference—Hillary vociferously for comprehensive campaign fi- holds a reported 45-to-1 edge. The Democratic nance reform, including a repeal of the Citizens National Committee, for its part, has sought to United Supreme Court decision and the aboli- limit debate opportunities and viewership in an tion of “super PACs,” which together have al- effort to protect Clinton’s lead, and at one point lowed corporate money to exert ever-greater actually cut off the Sanders campaign from its control over the electoral process. Bernie reg- database in a completely disproportionate pun- ularly reminds us that he is the only candidate ishment for a minor (and disputed) offense. without a super PAC and that his campaign is Meanwhile establishment talking heads are corporate-free. Instead he is funded largely by tripping over themselves to discount Bernie as small donations mixed with a few larger contri- unable to win a general election, despite ample butions from labor unions. Hillary’s campaign, polling evidence to the contrary.

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The best-intentioned of Hillary supporters will As should only be expected for what I’ll loosely argue something like the following: She still call “the Left,” debates about this election have has the best chance to beat whichever crazy/ gotten pretty nasty in recent months. Bernie’s dangerous thug emerges from the WWF-style insistence on not employing negative-cam- brawl taking place in the Republican primary. paigning techniques—together with Hillary’s They will say she also has the best chance to once-comfortable lead—kept things civil for get things done once in government. Politics a time. But as the campaign has worn on and are ugly and the Republican Party has re-de- her lead has shrunk, legions of Hillary follow- fined itself through its obstructionism as much ers have taken to the media to somewhat in- as its fanaticism. While Hillary might not be discriminately discount Bernie supporters as pure, she is the person in the Democratic Party sexist “Brocialists.” Bernie followers have been most likely to force at least a few positive re- snarky and occasionally impolitic—albeit gener- forms through our dysfunctional government. ally correct to judge by concrete positions and And they will add that it’s about time we elect achievements—in responding that Bernie has a woman president after more than two centu- supported policies and other measures that ries of uninterrupted man-rule. are far more progressive for women’s equality (beyond the higher echelons of the professional I would respond that Clinton represents too classes, at least). This debate, while having po- much of what is dysfunctional about our cur- tential to lead to a productive discussion on the rent political system to really do anything distinctions between liberatory and corporate about it. She is tied as closely to Wall Street as , has more generally been led by par- any politician in either party. She voted for the tisans and hacks, and has not progressed much Iraq War and remains loyal to the war-hawk past the point of -style mudslinging. wing of a Democratic Party running on the fumes of a widely discredited brand of liberal Further to the left, the usual suspects have interventionism. Clinton is too politically expe- come out of the woodwork to accuse Bernie dient toward the goal of winning power, while of not being the bearer of the true revolution. Sanders has maintained consistent values They accuse him of a litany of original-sin-style over more than thirty years in elected office. offenses, broadly relating to him not aligning in The symbolism of electing a woman president every possible way with a particular (and dare is important, no doubt—a potentially historic I say esoteric) brand of politics. Some say he event that would rival the election of Barack is acting as a “sheep dog” for the Democrat- Obama as our country’s first Black president ic Party, leading disaffected youth back into eight years ago. However we have also seen its fold—never mind that he has been an In- the limitations of symbolism-as-politics during dependent for most of his career and is now President Obama’s administration, with Black pretty much the No. 1 of the median income and wealth declining while in- Democratic establishment. Others will never carceration rates continue at a seemingly inex- forgive him for actually being a social democrat orable pace and the deportation of Latino im- when he so clearly mislabels himself as a dem- migrants has hit record highs. The value of this ocratic socialist—oh, the gall! And then there symbolism is outweighed by the hard currency are those who think Bernie fell from grace be- of electing a president with a plan and a man- cause of this or that foreign-policy vote, show- date to change the way that Washington, and ing himself to be just like everybody else—no our country at large, works. matter that he openly criticizes our country’s history of regime change and maintains that +++++ is a greater existential threat to

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us than terrorism in the face of aggressive me- bodies in this country, and then shifted to a dia fear mongering. While irrelevant to main- lengthy list of policy proposals and demands stream political consciousness, these political also addressing issues of political, legal, eco- pathologies are worth mentioning insofar as nomic, and environmental violence against they have sharpened and clarified distinctions communities of color. This new agenda has on the broader “socialist left”—between those been applauded by prominent leading voices who go where the people are and build politics from the movement. on the basis of existing realities, and those who would rather sit out on the edges and shout at While the first BLM intervention provided an everybody who is not already with them. example of two distinct but overlapping pro- gressive movements in critical and productive More interesting and relevant to the current conversation, the latter showed that the two moment in U.S. politics is a debate that started can still speak past each other at times. Ber- in full during Nation, a prominent an- nie, a 74-year-old white Jewish man from the nual progressive political convention. Activists second-whitest state in the U.S. (96.7%), was from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement initially slow to recognize the immediacy of interrupted a Bernie speech to call attention this moment in racial justice, as well as the bad to ongoing police violence against Black peo- optics of folding BLM concerns into his pre-ex- ple and demand the adoption of more forth- isting economic justice platform. BLM activists right political agendas to dismantle structural were opportunistic in exploiting these optics at racism in the United States. Sanders’ response the expense of somebody who has, at the very was derided by some as off-pitch and overly least, been a good “white ally” to racial justice dismissive. His initial follow-up attempts—to movements since he marched with Martin Lu- laud his own racial justice record and link the ther King, Jr., in 1963. Their tactic, while use- issue of racism back to economic policies de- fully provocative at Netroots, was overwrought signed to alleviate inequality—did him no fa- in . In this second case the group—led vors in this regard. A few weeks later, a Seat- by activists relatively new to and tle-based group of BLM activists interrupted much further from the leadership of what is another Bernie Sanders speech, this time at essentially an open-door movement—came a rally to celebrate the 80th birthday of Social across as cynical and not particularly interest- Security. The protestors grabbed the micro- ed in building progressive politics across es- phone before Bernie could speak, refused to sentialist divisions. let him respond to their critiques, accused the city of Seattle of “white supremacist ” +++++ in response to boos from the audience, and held the stage until the event was called off. As a whole, the Bernie/BLM saga has been a good learning experience for Sanders and his Just after this second action, the Sanders cam- followers, and this should come as comfort paign released a racial justice agenda (presum- to us as progressives. In addition to his racial ably crafted after the first intervention) that justice agenda, Bernie has hired more people opened—in an explicit nod to the requests of of color to prominent staff positions. He has BLM and other activists—by saying the names also become increasingly active in spotlighting of Black women and men recently killed by the the horrific on-going trend of police violence police. It continued by directly addressing the against Black people—for example visiting the physical violence perpetuated by the state and family of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old woman right-wing extremists against Black and Brown found dead in jail after being arrested for a

5 ETHAN EARLE BERNIE SANDERS’ SOCIALIST AMERICA

minor traffic violation, and afterward issuing the underlying issue of our time, which is how the powerful, if tragically simple, proclamation to remake the U.S. political and economic sys- that she “would be alive today if she were a tem into something that works for everybody white woman.” He has also toured with promi- in our country and does more to help than to nent Black cultural figures like of the harm the rest of the world. rap group Run the Jewels and gotten better at explicitly discussing the racism that has under- Bernie Sanders is doing everything he can to pinned so much of U.S. economic development keep us focused on this big issue, always clear ever since slavery. While his name recognition that it cannot be solved by him alone. This, among minority communities still lags far be- more than any other reason, is why I support hind Hillary, his likeability and likely voter rat- Bernie Sanders and think you should, too. Ber- ings have risen significantly. nie is the best-positioned person to galvanize a broad movement with the chance to win pow- More broadly we can view these debates as part er and also realign political alliances around of a rising moment—and perhaps even a gener- class-based and racial solidarity, as opposed ation—of renewed leftist activism in the United to the divisions that corporate interests would States. Several decades of progressive retreat, impose upon us. He did this in Vermont, per- at least at the level of mass consciousness, were haps not at the level of our greatest socialist suddenly reversed during in fantasies, but certainly in a transformative and September 2011, as I’ve previously written.1 This durable fashion. And when we look at the state incipient movement had all the guile and beauty of U.S. politics—where a right-wing populist of a newborn, which it more or less was as far as like has captured the imagina- most people connected to it were concerned. In tion of a sizeable portion of the Republican this way it served as a generational awakening electorate with his outside-the-Beltway mes- to the possibility of transformative political ac- sage—we see the urgent need for us to battle tivism in the United States. Black Lives Matter, for a new new majority in this country that is while not directly linked to or inspired by OWS, based around togetherness and not hate. entered the mainstream media in its wake and incorporated (intentionally or not) many of the Back home Bernie Sanders continues to hold critiques against its predecessor. together the coalition he has built with politics that move beyond typical partisan trench war- The Bernie Sanders campaign has reached fare. He is well known for his support for U.S. millions of people for whom it was easier to war veterans as well as his efforts to audit the engage politics through the prism of a presi- U.S. Federal Reserve, both typically considered dential campaign. Considered together (even if conservative issues. And he is surprisingly well they wouldn’t always have it as such), this triple liked by many of his Congressional Republican movement marks the ascendance of a new era colleagues, not as somebody who talks base- of progressive politics in the United States. And ball with them, but as a person who doesn’t talk while debates between these and other politi- one way and act the other. In a recent speech cal movements are necessary, as is the critical at the conservative Christian Univer- struggle for the shape and direction of pro- sity, Bernie invoked a rhetorical tool that has gressive politics, it is equally necessary that we been common throughout his career, basically not let destructive infighting distract us from telling the audience, “we may not agree on ev- erything, but we can agree on the injustice of 1 Earle, Ethan, “A Brief History of Occupy Wall Street,” Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office, November inequality and the corruption and dysfunction 2012, www.rosalux-nyc.org. that defines our system.”

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For as much as the current primary showcas- na Kirchner—for most of the past decade and es deep splits in both parties, it shows an even that, while she understands how historic it deeper split in the country between conserva- would be for us, how could it compare to hav- tive and progressive cultures. Nobody seems ing a socialist president in the most powerful to be able to imagine anything worse than any- capitalist country in the world? Hold on, my body from the opposing party being elected grandma said—not exactly suspiciously but president. Beyond Bernie’s message of econom- as if shaking the dust off an idea she hadn’t ic and political transformation, he also speaks considered in a long time—are you two so- to how we may re-envision our fractured polity cialists? We looked at each other and paused in the 21st century. The possibility of a Sanders for a moment, hesitantly, before my wife an- presidency provides us with an important road- swered, yeah, I guess if that’s what it takes, map for how to move beyond the culture of po- then we are. My grandma’s eyes widened litical gridlock that has overtaken us. slightly with surprise or a hint of mischief—or perhaps in an attempt to take in her grandson +++++ and granddaughter-in- and the breadth of old and new ideas, all at once. Well, she re- The last time I visited Vermont, my Argentine plied, her words slow and careful, how about wife and I went to see my 90-year-old grand- that. mother, a lifelong Vermonter and avid follower of golf and talk-show politics. Not surprisingly The next time I visit my family, I look we got to talking about the elections, and she to celebrating Vermont’s latest intervention in said that one of her sons, my uncle, was try- the course of U.S. history. In the best of cases ing to convince her to vote for Bernie. She re- we will celebrate the election of the country’s mained undecided. She has known Bernie for first democratic socialist president. But even decades and likes him and trusts his judgment, if Bernie loses, I believe his campaign will have but she also really wants to see a woman pres- nonetheless succeeded in creating a space to ident before she dies. It was a simple, strong envision a new era in progressive politics. Ei- argument and one that I take seriously. ther way, Bernie’s message of political revolu- tion will have been passed down to a new gen- My wife responded that her home country has eration of young people, a plot of ground for had a woman president—a progressive, Cristi- us to build on as we strive for a better future.

Published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, New York Office, January 2016

Editors: Stefanie Ehmsen and Albert Scharenberg Address: 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 2114, New York, NY 10016 Email: [email protected]; Phone: +1 (917) 409-1040 With support from the German Foreign Office.

The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is an internationally operating, progressive non-profit institution for civic education. In cooperation with many organizations around the globe, it works on democratic and social participation, empowerment of disadvantaged groups, alternatives for economic and social development, and peaceful conflict resolution. The New York Office serves two major tasks: to work around issues concerning the and to engage in dialogue with North American progressives in universities, unions, social movements, and politics. www.rosalux-nyc.org