Despite a recent poll showing that 25% of Bernie Sanders supporters would outright refuse to support Hillary Clinton in the general election, the Democratic establishment remains intent on making Hillary *happen* — whatever the cost. From money laundering to election fraud, they’re on their way to do it all. And the fact that they’ve gotten away with it has probably only further emboldened their belief that, if they will it, Clinton will be the inevitable nominee and next President of the United States. As a piece by The Nation optimistically put it, “Relax — Bernie’s Supporters Will Back Hillary If She’s the Nominee.” But while what happens on Twitter may seem like trivial nonsense, looking into the origins of the #ResistCapitalism hashtag reveals that maybe winning presidency should be the least of Clinton’s worries… Because the feelings of resentment towards her and her friends are actually much darker than many of us could have ever imagined.
Although it was soon after ‘blocked’ (allegedly, of course!), last month, #ResistCapitalism blew up as the trending hashtag on Twitter. (To a lesser degree, it is still going strong this week.) But while the trend did manage to garner the participation of many sound voices, like that of the Green Party’s Jill Stein who took it as an opportunity to denounce the unjustness of “unchecked capitalism”, it was also overpowered by voices of unprecedented hatred. Tweets from Bernie-backers not only outright denouncing capitalism, but going as far as alluding to a ‘barrel of a gun’ type dethronement of the billionaire class, filled the streams — some accompanied with pictures of Sanders, though a number of others with violent imagery of guillotines, riots, and (or) articles describing such events. One user bluntly posted: “makes far more sense to roll out a guillotine & execute its supporters #ResistCapitalism #BurnItAllDown #SmashTheState [sic].” Furthermore, rather than standing in solidarity with the likes of Nuit debout, one particular event getting praised was the April 9th union-organized protest against draft reform law in France that had suddenly turned violet when 300–400 masked militants started attacking the police.
First of all, let me make it clear that although these extremist tweets were coming from a surprisingly substantial amount of Bernie supporters, they in no way reflect the Sanders message. Or Jill Stein’s message for that matter. Sanders’ revolution is not a call to scorch Beverly Hills! (Lots of wonderful humans live there!) It’s a call for return to a “moral economy” and the system endorsed by FDR — to have a country that works for all of us. Furthermore, while crony capitalism is a terrible thing, the notion that capitalism is inherently evil is also extremely misguided. A socialist democracy — or just plain socialism — cannot actually exist without capitalism. Or vice versa. As former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (a Sanders supporter!) put in his book Saving Capitalism: “There can be no “free market” without government. The “free market” does not exist in the wild beyond the reach of civilization. Competition in the wild is a contest for survival in which the largest and strongest typically win. Civilization, by contrast, is defined by rules; rules create markets, and governments generate the rules.”
That said, while they don’t reflect Senator Sanders’ message, what such tweets do reflect are growing sentiments towards anarchy. In fact, the origins of #ResistCapitalism are exactly that. Pre-discussions of the April 9th “Twitterstorm” can first be found on the “Anarchism” forum on Reddit, where a user named ComradeNum called for the social media initiative to provoke support for their cause. Furthermore, it is the very place where Bernie’s social democracy is actually denounced. As explained (surprisingly eloquently, to be honest!) by another anonymous community member: “The differences between these two are huge and the similarities are superficial. Anarcho-syndicalists would see social democracy as slightly less parasitic than other branches of capitalism but also quite insidious since it assuages the real grievances of the working class, dissuading them from the revolt necessary to eliminate capitalism.”
Why people who have created, and seem to cherish, their online “community” continue to have a vendetta against the idea of community beats me… But it is safe to say that anarchists aren’t ‘Feeling the Bern.’ And in the same way that ISIS attracts those disenfranchised in the Middle East and the KKK attracts those right-wingers marginalized here in the states, the anarcho-syndicalists are right in thinking they have the potential to draw in alienated leftists. In his post, ComradeNum actually explained anarchism’s prior (and therefore potential!) appeal to “oppressed/marginalized groups”, emphasizing: “The more we are heard, the more we will grow. Our ideas are better. Capitalist arguments are falling flat with oppressed people.”
The fact of the matter is that our middle class is declining, income inequality is increasing, and poverty’s at a historic high. One could argue that the climate in the USA is actually scarily similar to that of France in 1789 — just prior to the revolution. Much like our state today, France had been bankrupted by failed wars, their economy was weak, the once thriving ‘professional class’ was shrinking, and even the very war veterans (who had put their lives and limbs on the line for their country!) found themselves abandoned by social services. Yet the royals and nobles were simultaneously getting richer — and by stepping on the very backs of the people who worked for them. Similarly today, people are working harder than ever to make less many than ever, all because billionaires like the Pritzkers and the Waltons are unable to contain their greed — and have bought out the very politicians and government officials who were supposed to keep them in check. In the case of the Pritzkers, who were fined $460 by the Federal Government in 2001 for their predatory and deceitful loan-shark operation, heiress Penny Pritzker actually now serves as Secretary of Commerce. All because she donated almost a billion total to President Barack Obama’s election campaigns… (The “Barack Obama Bundler” list on OpenSecrets.org is pretty eye-opening.)
But as insane as the notion of anarchy is, in some ways, the condition of country today may already be worse than anything anarchists could drive it to be — as CNN’s Carol Costello proved on April 5th by abruptly ending her segment when a commentator brought up the “[12-year-old] girl who was raped by a pedophile that Hillary Clinton bragged about getting off.” This accusation that Clinton knowingly backed a pedophile, as private lawyer and a favor for a friend, has actually been backed with an actual audio recording in which Clinton can be heard laughing about her defendant’s guilt. Yet on top of not yet facing any legal or professional consequences for it, Clinton now has the mainstream media *helping* her smother the story and downplay it as opposition propaganda — although it was on CNN where I first read this story two years ago! As Sanders has repeatedly put it: “There is no justice, and I want you to hear this clearly, when the top 1/10th of 1% — not 1% — the top 1/10th of 1% today, in America, owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%.” And when someone like Clinton who has been integral to so many atrocities and scandals — from the just mentioned, to the MTBE-poisoned water of Pennsylvania, to the Iraq War, to the freaking military coup in Honduras — is actually able to run for president (instead of actually being in jail!), there clearly is no justice….
That said, history has proved time and time again, that humans can only take so much abuse. And that when they break, like anyone in the grip of a stereotypical psychotic breakdown, they tend to go crazy and do things that are unconscionable. While revolutions are glamorized in history, they are in reality events which bring out the worst in mankind. In fact, they are essentially anarchy in its purest form — the epitome of lawlessness and terror run amok. As Malcolm X described it: “You don’t have a peaceful revolution. You don’t have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution. There’s no such thing as a nonviolent revolution. Revolution is bloody. Revolution is hostile. Revolution knows no compromise. Revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in its way.” In a sense, revolutions take out evil by means of greater evil. (Sane people don’t pitchfork children to death!) And in that sense, Bernie Sanders is not actually a revolutionary, but just an amazingly bighearted man trying to prevent the tragedy of one.
Yet just like back in the 1700s France or early 1900s Russia, although the resentment of the disenfranchised and disillusioned working class has been acknowledged by today’s establishment, it has been for the most part dismissed. Because, for now, those in power think they can get away with it. Jack Dorsey, the nerd that he is, certainly seems to think that censoring Twitter is all that it takes… But as that famous quote in the The Hunger Games goes: “Every revolution begins with a spark!” Rather than continuing to test fire on a generation that has been obsessed with revolt-themed franchises and looking at Sanders as a nuisance, perhaps it’s time all these politicians and billionaires saw Sanders for what he really is: a “Get Out of The Guillotine” free card. The man’s trying to save us all. Morally and physically. Appreciate it.