I stumbled across Daily Kos shortly after the towers came down in New York City and I was being thrust into anti-Iraq war organization and activism. I was in my early 20s and just barely finding my voice. Years later, the transition from an enduring neocon-fueled nightmare to the arrival of a reworked and timely ‘hope and change’ message played an extremely formative role in the further cultivation of my political consciousness. I have since been busy completing a degree program in veterinary medicine up in northern CA, but just felt like sharing some thoughts about the current Democratic primaries and what the Bernie Sanders movement means to me.
This must be what a revolution or paradigm shift against a well-entrenched status quo looks like. I can’t say my lifetime has provided me with much of a vantage point as to what such a phenomenon would materialize as. For while I listen to the Grateful Dead religiously, I was born quite a bit too late to experience the storied peace and love movement of the 60s. And my knowledge of the social programming and artistry of FDR during the Great Depression is loose at best and comes solely from textbooks, PBS documentaries and my imagination. So I can only venture that this is what a shifting consciousness of the nation might look and feel like.
We must take inventory on where we are as a rapidly-changing nation and where we’d like to go from here.
Clearly, the people of South Carolina are not as progressive-minded as the movement itself. But I think we already knew that. South Carolina has been as deep of a red state as any other in the nation throughout American history. The GOP currently owns six of seven congressional seats, both US senate seats and every statewide elective office, including attorney general and Secretary of State. Plus a majority in both houses of the state legislature.
It is no surprise that South Carolina was not ready for the progressive vision of a candidate like Bernie sanders. They are not feeling the Bern, so to speak. There will also be other states whose composition of voters are not ready as well.
However, the movement cannot be turned back at this point. It continues to grow larger, more organized and with added clarity each day. Minds have been opened that will remain open and engaged, that will continue to fight for a future where the interests of the the American people are no longer eclipsed by those of special interests and the top 1% wealthiest Americans.
The youth are on board by incredible margins. As are independent-minded voters that currently make up 40% of the electorate. Both demographics continue to grow. The country is becoming more and more diverse and more and more progressive.
These types of changes do not happen overnight. And the rate of progress may frustrate us and leave me disillusioned at times. But the seeds have been planted. And the movement will only grow from here.
From the Bernie Sanders wing of the American People and the Democratic Party, I've never been more optimistic about the future of this country. Take care, thanks for reading and keep up the good fight, my friends. I’ll be drinking beers in the sunshine.