Bernie did a wonderful thing, bringing together 14 million plus people who supported his progressive, anti-neoliberal positions and his democratic socialism. Bernie showed the potential and possibility of progressive positions.
But he is one man, one charismatic celebrity. He had the wisdom to tell every crowd that change happens from the bottom up. That means that he cannot make the change happen for us. We have to do it. We have to take back the Democratic Party and America. (Join the Take Back the Democratic Party and America Facebook Group)
As Paolo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed teaches us, only the oppressed can free themselves. We must be the ones who take back democracy, social justice and our freedom from oppression. Freire offers this wisdom, which shows just how wise Bernie has been:
""A real humanist can be identified more by his trust in the people, which engages him in their struggle, than by a thousand actions in their favor without that trust."
and,
"Attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects which must be saved from a burning building; it is to lead them into the populist pitfall and transform them into masses which can be manipulated."
This is so important. Activists can't do this for the people. Activists can help wake up the people, teach them, inspire them, but they can't do the change for the people. That applies to Bernie Sanders too.
"...not even the best-intentioned leadership can bestow independence as a gift. The liberation of the oppressed is a liberation of women and men, not things. Accordingly while no one liberates himself by his own efforts alone, neither is he liberated by others""
and
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