I’ve been chuckling for a few days now, watching the big fight over who should be allowed to claim the mantle of being a progressive. I laugh because it wasn’t long ago — in fact a very short time ago - that progressive was a dirty word in politics. Accusing someone of being a liberal or a progressive was a good way to kill their political career if you could get it to stick.
Remember Rahm and his love of progressives? Yep. That was right in Obama’s own administration not long ago. Remember how Hillary proudly proclaimed the title of moderate and centrist? Yep. Not long ago.
Then along comes Bernie, who proudly proclaims that he’s a progressive. First they ridiculed him. And when that didn’t destroy him, but instead vastly increased his popularity, they decided to try and co opt him. Now every Kool Kid on the block is claiming the mantle of being a progressive. The big argument is who’s MOST progressive. Now no one has the right to say someone else isn’t progressive. Nevermind if someone outright rejected that label for years, even decades. Now that it’s popular again, we’re ALL progressives.
But just one candidate made that word popular again.
That candidate has done more in just a few months time to change the conversation in this country than any other candidate has done in many, many years. I have no idea who will become the Democratic candidate and I’ll vote for whoever it is. But I will always heart Bernie for having such a dramatic impact on this country. He has made the little guy feel as though she has an iota of power and that his voice might actually be heard. He has made people feel that they are actually being listened to and understood by someone. He has made people feel that each of us are actually a part of this country and not just a cog in the wheel. He made the label of progressive popular again. And I think that if he is elected, he’ll continue to do all of that and so much more.
I’ve been fortunate in my life — not rich, but comfortable. One of the difficulties of being fortunate is figuring out how to share my financial good fortune with others. The dribs and drabs I can share won’t go far to help any individual or individuals, yet dropping it into some organization might or might not do any more good to anyone. So I’ve done a bit of this and a bit of that — and I’ll continuing doing that. But I’m convinced that the most good I can do for the most people right now is to help Bernie’s revolution. Helping him spread the word about income inequality and the horrible impact of the influx of corporate monies into our political system is something that can help soooo many people so much more than a few dollars here and a few dollars there. If Bernie’s message is heard and even a fraction of it comes to fruition, perhaps low income workers’ wages will go up, more people will be able to attend college, education will be better funded, fewer people will end up in prison and with criminal records, and more people will receive better health care. I won’t be using my charitable budget to help with this; I’ll dip into other accounts for it. But I feel better with every donation I send his way. The little sacrifices I’m making when I dip into those other accounts are providing me with more satisfaction than I’ve felt in a long time, because I feel as though they actually have a chance of making a difference.
So I’ll let people continue fighting over who gets to wear the label Bernie has made so popular so quickly and I’ll just keep sending my checks to Bernie. Because only Bernie has been able to make the word “progressive” popular again.