“It’s not an issue I hear a whole lot." Thanks for asking the tough questions. Sanders is clearly ignorant, blind, or both. He knows his base is the wealthy radicals pillaging college campuses.
"He is also someone who is going to believe what he wants to believe about young leftists."
But is this something *you* believe he believes? For me (someone who volunteered for both his campaigns) one of the stranger aspects of Bernie's public persona has been his refusal to offer any substantive meta-commentary on the Left post-1960s. He's an on-message politician, fine, but he was on the ground for the Civil Rights movement, was in SNCC (at least I think?) and was affiliated with various permutations of US socialist parties (at least early on) in Vermont. It beggars belief that he doesn't have thoughts (either way) on the Third Worldist, anti-Zionist tendencies that arose on the New Left and since then. If his legacy is that you keep your hands clean and run on popularist policies and try not to divide the left (and hope New New Dealism papers over the other stuff) that's one kind of legacy, I guess.
Bernie is someone who has done almost zero self-reflection and mediation on his place in the history of the American left or the left in general. It’s a bit disappointing. Publicly, he sometimes come off as anti-intellectual.
It seems to me that politics can be looked at from so many different lenses that it’s impossible to win sometimes, and Bernie has chosen to present a more board scope approach as he ages. Focusing on the big issues and being a consistent voice to them. While also trying his best to support a movement that he is largely responsible for. He seems fully aware that he is in transitional period of handing it off to the next generations. He is still the loudest and most high profile voice to advocate for state funded healthcare, college and housing. And to me those are still the most and will be the most important issues until they are accomplished.
Great piece, Ross! Love your up-close, in-depth coverage.
thank you!
“It’s not an issue I hear a whole lot." Thanks for asking the tough questions. Sanders is clearly ignorant, blind, or both. He knows his base is the wealthy radicals pillaging college campuses.
"He is also someone who is going to believe what he wants to believe about young leftists."
But is this something *you* believe he believes? For me (someone who volunteered for both his campaigns) one of the stranger aspects of Bernie's public persona has been his refusal to offer any substantive meta-commentary on the Left post-1960s. He's an on-message politician, fine, but he was on the ground for the Civil Rights movement, was in SNCC (at least I think?) and was affiliated with various permutations of US socialist parties (at least early on) in Vermont. It beggars belief that he doesn't have thoughts (either way) on the Third Worldist, anti-Zionist tendencies that arose on the New Left and since then. If his legacy is that you keep your hands clean and run on popularist policies and try not to divide the left (and hope New New Dealism papers over the other stuff) that's one kind of legacy, I guess.
Bernie is someone who has done almost zero self-reflection and mediation on his place in the history of the American left or the left in general. It’s a bit disappointing. Publicly, he sometimes come off as anti-intellectual.
It seems to me that politics can be looked at from so many different lenses that it’s impossible to win sometimes, and Bernie has chosen to present a more board scope approach as he ages. Focusing on the big issues and being a consistent voice to them. While also trying his best to support a movement that he is largely responsible for. He seems fully aware that he is in transitional period of handing it off to the next generations. He is still the loudest and most high profile voice to advocate for state funded healthcare, college and housing. And to me those are still the most and will be the most important issues until they are accomplished.
Wonderful article with great things to consider!