On the day after World War II ended, the United States, to invoke Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, bestrode the world like a colossus. Never in human history had a country looked so powerful and dominant. Its military forces were victorious and instrumental in defeating Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the country's economic output represented almost half of the world's economy, and politically it set out to redefine the international system. That particular day represented the height of American power while, at the same time, much of the rest of the industrialized world lay in ruins, exhausted in large part due to a terrible global conflict that had lasted six long years from 1939-1945.
Out of the ashes of war rose two superpowers that would dominate the world for decades to come. While the Soviet Union had found new-found international prestige in 1945 by playing a major role in defeating Germany, it, not unlike most other European countries, was destroyed internally during the war, suffering unimaginable loss of life and destruction of property. Only the United States had emerged virtually unscathed and the war had, in many ways, made it a much stronger country, both internally and externally. This unprecedented position of power enabled it to flex its political, economic, and military muscle. What followed was a world reborn. For the next three decades or so, the country's political establishment largely delivered and great strides were made in improving living standards, with the result being shared economic prosperity for an ever-increasing middle class. Major social changes and scientific advancements held hope for a brighter future. By the mid-1970s, the American Dream was beginning to turn into an economic nightmare for many Americans. Today, large majorities believe that the post-World War II social compact is broken and needs to be rejuvenated. And this is not just an American problem.
At its core, Bernie Sanders’s fight against the establishment epitomizes a few basic American concepts: fairness, justice, opportunity, optimism, and equity in society. An interesting article asks the question, is “Feel the Bern” limited only to the domestic electorate or, can it travel well and be adopted by citizens of other countries?
Why People Around the World are Rooting for Bernie Sanders
The United States is as good a democracy as any other in formal terms but there has been a great amount of despair about the actual control its citizens exercise over the country’s political institutions and policies. Between them, two political parties divide up the US political spectrum, creating a narrow zone of elite consensus within which politics is allowed to play. The stranglehold of big business over election finance, aided by some significant court decisions, helps fix the boundaries of this elite consensus.
The author expounds on the dissatisfaction and anger felt deeply both on the political Left and Right and one that has propelled candidacies few people thought a year ago would be politically acceptable and viable. And yet, here we are on the eve of the first political contest to determine whether populism wins, or does elitism still carry the day. There is, however, a distinct difference between the uprising on the left and right.
Populists appeal directly to strongly felt hopes and fears. And it is here that the resemblance between Trump and Sanders ends abruptly. Trump is seeking to make capital of people’s deep fears and anxieties. Sanders, on the other hand, is appealing to what remains of the American people’s hopes of getting a fair and just deal in society.
If Sanders is to continue his improbable march and begin to succeed in redefining the American system, what ramifications will that have for the rest of the world? Suffice it to say, the United States still exerts a great deal of influence on other countries. Given Bernie’s success, the author sees hopeful signs for others who’ve had to contend with a world-wide move in recent years towards economic austerity and a global neoliberal ideology stifling the hopes of millions.
If the rest of the world is waiting eagerly for the results of the first Democratic Party primary in Iowa on Monday, it is because of this humanist and idealist content of Sanders’ campaign…
This will hit at the very heart of the neoliberal global establishment. It could significantly weaken this establishment’s ideological strength, which it currently packages so well that it has been able to sell it successfully to a very big part of the global population, especially the middle and aspirational classes… Iowa on Monday may well open a new chapter in the global struggle for a more just and equal world.
We can only hope so.