Senator Sanders, telling us what we "need to do" from Vermont, not from Washington!

[The Magistrate]

48. Why, Then, Ma'am, The People Will All Become Revolutionists

You see, the real obstacle to revolution is not the the right wing power structure which oppresses people, but progressive and reformist types whose activities ameliorate the people's distress. This prevents the people from feeling the full weight of their oppression, and so prevents revolution, which is (it was a chant back when Sanders was a young radical type) the solution.

The thing goes back a long time, to the mid-nineteenth century at least, and can be illustrated by the answer to two questions. First, what is the aim of a worker's strike? Second, should workers' parties take part in elections and enter government in a democratic polity? If you answer the first question with 'better wages and conditions', and the second with 'yes, of course' you are actually on the side of the oppressors. The right answers are 'to radicalize the workers and prepare them for revolution', and 'no, that is collaboration with the enemies of the people'. Sanders presents a sort of denatured version of the classic radical line. He does not really expect revolution, but that is where his heart is. He is far more concerned with proclaiming what he wants the people to have than with bringing any actual benefit to the people.




"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."