Kshama Sawant: Bernie Sanders is giving voice to the enormous desire for progressive change.

From Kshama Sawant's Socialist Response to the 2016 State of the Union Address (the part about Bernie's campaign starts around 7:30 in the video):



This past year, the bigotry and arrogance of billionaire Donald Trump has dominated coverage of the U.S. presidential race.
We must stand up to, and organize in the streets, against the Republican right wing’s racist, sexist, and anti-worker agenda.
But what fuels support for this agenda? It arises out of the falling living standards of working people and the growing hatred of the political establishment.


As workers living standards fall, there will inevitably be anger that requires a political outlet. It can not be stopped on the basis of supporting establishment, pro-business politicians.

We need to offer a clear alternative to defend the rights of working people, the interests of the 99%.


That means we must also oppose Hillary Clinton, warmonger and Walmart candidate for the Democratic Party.
It would be great to have a female president to fight for women’s rights. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton will not deliver on that.
If the 99% have to choose between two Wall Street candidates for president, it is far more likely workers and youth will stay home, and the Republicans may win.


Bernie Sanders is giving voice to the enormous desire for progressive change.
Many of Bernie’s supporters are excited to support a self-described democratic socialist candidate.


But what is socialism? Millions are asking.
A socialist society would put people before profits, the environment before big oil. In which the resources of the major corporations are taken into democratic public ownership, rationally planned for the needs of society as a whole.


I am not a Democrat, but I would welcome it if Bernie Sanders were to win the Democratic nomination, as this would be a major blow to the political establishment and to corporate politics.

But Sanders will face huge obstacles in the undemocratic Democratic primaries, which are tilted towards Hillary Clinton.
Defeating Clinton and the Wall Street interests behind her will require Sanders supporters build a massive new grassroots political force capable of waging a fierce battle against the Democratic Party machine at every level of American politics.


Effectively, this means building a new left political party out of Sanders’ campaign that can continue to organize and fight beyond the elections.
Even if big business and the Democratic establishment were unable to block Sanders in their primary, there is no way they would accept having someone representing working people’s interests at the head of one of their two parties.

If they failed to force Sanders to make major political concessions, they would go all-out to sabotage him in the general election campaign, preferring to see a Republican win.


If you are electrified by Bernie’s message, you should not support Hillary if Bernie loses the primary. Endorsing Hillary would be a surefire way to demoralize, demobilize, and wreck the movement building up behind Bernie.
I would instead urge Sanders to continue running as an independent all the way to November, for example on the Green Party ticket with Jill Stein. But our immediate task, of course, is to relentlessly push forward the grassroots energy around Bernie.


Win or lose, the most important legacy of this historic campaign will be whether it builds an ongoing political movement against the billionaire class.
It is time for something new. The 99% needs its own political party that unambiguously fights for our needs.


We need to build a tool to fight back against the Billionaire Class – to save humanity and our planet from the failed system of capitalism – and to fight for a socialist world.


http://www.socialistalternative.org/2016/01/09/socialistresponse-state-union-2016/