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On 3/3/20 10:30 PM, MM via Marxism wrote:
The point of a Sanders Presidency isn’t that he’s going to usher in socialism or even make real inroads towards “structural reforms” (not sure what that means, actually), but that he either: 1. Makes progress towards reforms that make a real difference in people’s lives — healthcare, student debt, union rights — and / or towards reining in the fossil fuel industry and its enablers, which would be “not enough but better than nothing” in dealing with the ecological emergency(ies); or: 2. Is visibly and indisputably thwarted by “the establishment” at every turn in his efforts to do the kinds of things mentioned in #1 — which will almost certainly crystallize a wave of resistance among the millions of young people who are putting their hopes in the vision he has articulated as part of his campaign, and unleash a wave of civil disobedience the US hasn’t seen in decades. Either 1. or 2. would be a major step in the right direction.
That's certainly the expectation of Jacobin/DSA but for those of us still Quixotic to believe in the need for a socialist revolution, there's an entirely different agenda that has to do with drawing clear class lines and gathering together like-minded people for the long haul.
Voting certainly makes a difference in peoples' lives. For example, I have indigent relatives who are on Obamacare. It makes a real difference in their lives.
But facing monumental threats to the continuing existence of the human race and life on earth and general, a different kind of tool is needed than the one wielded by the Sandernistas. It might seem total like self-delusion but the crisis of revolutionary leadership has to be resolved or else we will end up like the brontosaurus.
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