(ANTIMEDIA Op-Ed) Dear Bernie Sanders supporters,
I was you in 2012. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into a presidential candidate who wound up getting screwed over by his own party, voter “ irregularities,” the media, and the ‘inevitability’ mindset toward the ‘mainstream’ candidate that pervaded the voting public. His name was Ron Paul; you may have heard of him and the revolution he continues to inspire. But fret not, Sanders supporters, the revolution is also yours — if you can keep it.
Don’t let the Democratic party steal your thunder. You created this revolution because you know something is wrong with the United States, and you saw Bernie Sanders as your next best chance to fix it. You’re right — there is something wrong with America. Many things, in fact. From inequality to money’s control over politics (see: oligarchy), police brutality to never-ending wars, social inequity to economic insecurity … need I go on?
But Bernie Sanders was never going to fix these issues — he said so himself. The problems the empire — err — the United States faces are too big and deeply-rooted for one man to fix. That’s why Bernie stated from the start his candidacy was a movement about political revolution, not about electing him. He knew his odds when he entered the race — hell, he probably even knew Hillary was going to win despite the will of the people.
Regardless, this revolution is now yours for the taking, but it will be lost if you allow yourself to vote for Hillary Clinton — or Donald Trump, for that matter.
But where do you go from here? Like I said, I was in your shoes four short years ago. I was mad, I was angry, I felt cheated and ripped off. My guy was going to fix things, I thought. He was going to end the wars, bring transparency to the rigged monetary system, and level the economic playing field so everyone had a fair chance at succeeding. But he lost — just like Bernie. His son, Senator Rand Paul, endorsed Mitt Romney, just like Bernie endorsed Hillary.
We were encouraged by the Republican Party — who never wanted us to begin with — to put our efforts into their mission to beat Obama, not because we liked Romney (interchange Hillary), but because we were told we had to support anyone to beat Obama (interchange Trump). I didn’t buy it. I chose to vote for a third-party candidate rather than hold my nose and vote for a guy who was the embodiment of everything I was against. But it didn’t end there — and I hope the #BernieOrBust crowd does the same thing.
There are several directions the people of Bernie’s revolution can go at this point. You already know the establishment’s preferred choice, but here are mine: continue the revolution outside the political spectrum, vote for Jill Stein in the Green Party, and/or vote for Gary Johnson in the Libertarian Party.
Taking the revolution out of politics is a fairly simple proposal that involves one thing: take it upon yourself to right the wrongs you see facing this country and your community. You can do this by working with Bernie revolutionaries and others locally to create community-run institutions that serve the people and address the societal problems we are facing. This is the most important aspect of continuing the revolution.
Creating independent news organizations to combat the corporate media (hey, that’s what I did!); building community gardens; holding teach-ins to help people learn new skills; organizing community energy co-ops to bring sustainable energy to your community; starting community kitchens and food banks that provide food for those in need; creating community defense groups to reduce the need for overbearing police forces; creating employee-owned business; and even simply supporting existing local businesses are just a few of the things you can do.
By working outside the political system and taking matters into the revolution’s hands, you circumvent the corrupt political process and wasteful bureaucracy — and you eventually undermine the very need for corrupt government institutions once your community becomes self-sufficient.
These actions are collectively known as agorism — and you’ll want to familiarize yourself with this philosophy if you hope to foster change outside the rigged political system.
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The other, more political option, doesn’t need much explaining. Jill Stein is running as the Green Party nominee, and you can view her platform here. Gary Johnson is running as the Libertarian Party nominee, and you can see his platform here. Both of these candidates either have ballot access or are working to get ballot access across the country and represent the best chance for a third-party challenge to the monopoly currently ruling the political system, which I’ve fondly started referring to the Republicrat party. Voting for either of these two candidates sends a clear message to the establishment you are not happy with the status quo — and that you are withdrawing your consent to be ruled over by a corrupt warmonger or a racist billionaire. You’ll also save your conscience some grief because both of these candidates actually have principles based on ethics, peace, equality, justice, and prosperity — something that can’t be said about Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Sincerely,
Nick Bernabe
Editor-in-Chief | The Anti-Media
This article (Dear Sanders Supporters: Don’t Kill Your Revolution by Voting for Hillary Clinton) is an opinion editorial (OP-ED). The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Anti-Media. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Nick Bernabe and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Gage Skidmore. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.
