So, no, Bernie's programs will not overthrow capitalism. Indeed, as he constantly says, they are standard fare in most advanced capitalist countries. They are just the kind of " non-reformist reforms " that establish greater control of resources and services by and for the public, governed by "human needs and demands" rather than profitability-a basic social democratic framework.
But for the United States that's a hell of a "just." If these programs don't achieve a workers' revolution they sure put the working class in a much less precarious position from which to fight for it. Bernie deserves enormous credit for being the single politician who has brought all these issues-and the concept of "socialism" itself-into U.S. political discourse in a way that cannot be ignored or dismissed, and he's done it by inspiring a mass movement with incredible energy. What leftist, no matter how radical, would not want to see a real social democratic framework starting to displace a neoliberal one in the U.S.? Who can't recognize there's something unprecedented and seriously positive about a leader who, instead of promising to walk us more slowly to the cliff, is showing us we can turn around and go in another direction?
Even on those foreign policy (loosely-defined) issues where I find his positions atrocious-calling Maduro a "dictator," refusing to defend Julian Assange, reinforcing the phony Russiagate narrative, clinging to two-state liberal zionism, etc.-Bernie is a different kind of political actor than any Democratic politician who is now or ever has been close to the nomination. I would say with some confidence that Bernie is not going to attack Venezuela (or Iran) and may very well remove sanctions, that he is not going to endorse Israel's annexation of the West Bank, that he will try to reverse the nuclear and space-arms race and try to reduce defense spending, that he may possibly stop the prosecution of Assange, etc. I cannot say any of those things about any of the other candidates. So, yeah, Bernie Sanders is not going to end U.S. imperialism; he will just put it into hibernation and take us back from the brink of war with countries like Iran and Russia. Just.
So I won't begrudge leftists who find some of these positions disqualifying, but I'll vote for him, and I hope he wins the Democratic nomination and the general election, since either of those victories would disrupt the US political order in a promising way. I also think he would have an excellent chance of winning the general election, and a slight chance of winning the Democratic nomination. It is the fight for the latter that is going to disrupt the American political order over the next six months, and will, I hope, deal a catastrophic blow to the two-party system.
To win the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders would have to have a majority of pledged delegates going into the Democratic convention, which is highly unlikely. The value of my left vote in that context is to make sure that Bernie Sanders goes to the convention with as big a plurality of delegates as possible. Thus, if/when the DNC gifts the nomination to another candidate, it will be clear to Bernie supporters that the Democratic Party could never be anything but an obstruction to a progressive social democratic program. The better Bernie does, the more likely his rejection by the Party will result in an irreversible mass Demexit.
If I had written this a few weeks ago I would not have added "virtually" to "impossible" above. And it's worth noting what's changed since the primary in 2016, as evidenced by the events of the past few weeks, that gives this year's Bernie campaign unprecedented strength.
The first thing that's changed is that Bernie has been in it to win it from the beginning. This contrasts with the 2016 primary campaign, where his advisors admitted he entered the race "to spread his political message"rather than do whatever it took to win the nomination." Like everybody else, Bernie assumed that Hillary was the inevitable nominee. After all, he had nowhere near her public recognition. It was understood that he would get a few months to highlight his signature issues of healthcare and inequality before exiting gracefully, probably right after the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, to attend Hillary's unimpeded march to her coronation.
It was only after his virtual tie in Iowa (49.8-49.6%) and surprise blowout win in NH (60.1-37.7%) that his campaign shifted into the higher gears of contention. But he was still having to make up ground against a well-known party luminary with widespread support among the party constituency and with a highly experienced and well-financed political machine that had been prepared for years. Hillary's victory was assumed by everybody, including the Bernie camp, at the outset and throughout the campaign. That's a main reason Hillary is so pissed off at him for not dropping out earlier.
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