Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Trump vs Sanders: The End of Rep/Dem Rule



I know it's early days, and anything can happen, but I believe that American voters will be choosing between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. They are finally realizing that they have been stuck for decades in what is referred to as the ideal political 'center', but in reality is a steadily worsening situation for the majority, to the advantage of a tiny minority. The United States is the only developed country that has not made room for any kind of socialist party, no matter how democratic, that could counter-balance the weight of corporate capital and ensure a fair deal for the average citizen.

But then, why Trump?  Because he offers American voters something they have consciously been aching for: a leader who projects strength (just look at that jaw!)  Donald Trump reminds me of 'Il Duce’: Mussolini was a small man, but in his high boots and khaki jodhpurs he looked like he could lick the world. Many short men suffer from a Mussolini complex, but Trump is six foot three. 

Moving on, America’s Middle East quagmire exemplifies nothing if not repeated bungling, and the electorate, notwithstanding a coopted media, finally sees that.  If Trump can convince undecideds that he will treat existing illegals 'fairly' (as he wants to be treated by the RNC), and protect women's right to choose, he will appeal to two of the Democratic Party’s major constituencies. notwithstanding that in social policy he is the antithesis of Bernie Sanders, claiming that trickle-down, if done right, can lift all Americans to a life of Reilly.

But why Bernie Sanders?  Notwithstanding black accusations of indifference, he will stand corrected. Black consciousness having moved from yearning for Africa in the sixties to forging ties to liberation movements around the world, Black Lives Matter is the right movement in the right place at the right time.  Similarly, Hispanics take a page from Latin America’s left-wing and the indigenous movement claims its place in the sun. (It's not for nothing that Obama made peace with Cuba: relations with the entire southern continent, home to large indigenous populations, were at stake, as its elected rulers made clear.)

Finally, the rise of ISIS, abetted by Washington's political rednecks, is a threat that can only grow, not so much thanks to American support as to its murderous presence in Muslim lands.   Violence at home and abroad is finally creating a true left-right divide in the United States, in place of the so-called Rep/Dem middle ground in which the country has been mired for decades, while the world evolved.

If Trump's wealth frees him from lobbyists, as he claims, he will potentially be the closest thing to a king that America has ever had, the only possible president since FDR who could really 'get things done'. The problem is that he aspires to be like Ronald Reagan, and that is where Bernie Sanders comes in.

Though international violence is sometimes dressed in misleading costumes (as in ISIS versus Hezbollah), the world continues to be divided between right and left, and with Sanders, a democratic socialist, the US will finally be participating in that struggle. Democratic socialism includes both private and public ownership in order to ensure that every human being receives food, shelter, education and medical care. It is practiced across Europe as well as in Russia and China, and is the reason why NATO seeks regime change in Moscow before taking on China’s ‘peaceful rise’. 

The world is no longer divided between Communism and Capitalism, but between social democracy and fascism, in which government is subordinated to private enterprise. This is the same alternative that presented itself to Germany a century ago, after the Russian Revolution. Historical research shows that the US only fought Germany because Hitler was out of control: the real enemy, then as now, is any regime that touts cooperation rather than conflict, and the responsibility of the community for the individual, as in all human families.


Trump vs Sanders may sound like a fantasy, but it’s probably the only alternative to revolution, for which American police departments, oath keepers and the military are preparing.

3 comments:

  1. Great commentary
    Perhaps the time has come for real discussion

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great commentary
    Perhaps the time has come for real discussion

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you are right. US presidential race would be so much more exciting than in case of Bush vs Clinton.

    ReplyDelete