Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont speaks during a rally at the Liacouras Center, Temple University, in Philadelphia, April 6, 2016. (Photo: Mark Makela / The New York Times)
In the last six months, a relatively low-profile senator from a low-profile state has become a national and even global political phenomenon. At a recent speech in the South Bronx, over 18,000 people rallied with thunderous applause when Bernie Sanders said, “We need millions of people to stand up and create a political revolution.” And there’s no question that millions are “feeling the Bern.”
With World War III on the doorstep, the doomsday clock at three minutes to midnight, straddling tipping points toward catastrophic climate change, and in the middle of a mass extinction, revolution has never been more urgent and necessary. And at the risk of sounding ridiculous, there are real possibilities for an ongoing revolutionary movement to emerge from the matrix of the 2016 election. But an election is not a revolution: A revolution is a long haul, a life’s work of sacrifice and struggle. This is a 10-point program for the movement: how not to Bern out.
1. Don’t Trust the Mainstream Media
They don’t know how to report on these elections. But that’s not all — they don’t know how to report on anything! Their job is not to inform or educate us, but to sell our brains, manufacture consent and censor the most important stories. It’s black and white: They are red all over from the blood of the war on Iraq, among other ongoing acts of destruction. And even the polls that usually get it right are getting it all wrong. Let’s turn off the TV and turn to each other.
2. Don’t Trust the Democratic Party
There’s a reason that the Democratic Party is known as the graveyard of social movements. From the Rainbow Coalition to President Obama, this is hardly the first time that aspirations for democracy and…