this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2025
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Politics
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You're letting perfect be the enemy of good - you can push for changes while still operating in a society.
Not sure how anyone sees the highest level ever recorded of homelessness, followed by another record level of homelessness, as good. How 53% of renters can't afford their housing as good. The widest level of income inequality we've ever had as good. Enabling the mass slaughter of Palestinians while ignoring the pleas of its own people as good, then deny there is a genocide occuring. Throwing trans under the bus while embracing war criminals like the Cheneys, blowing Republican dog whistles, and expanding the police state as good. Refusing to listen to voters that the DNC's hand selected candidate wasnt fit for office until the money people said get him out, as good.
The enemy of good is liberals that refuse to hold their own people accountable.
So in other words, the same criticisms that Sanders makes.
I don't see you leading raids on US army bases, so don't act like you're out there facilitating the destruction of the US empire on any substantive level if you're eschewing politics. At least Sanders is actually working day in and day out to better conditions for people that the US oppresses, in and out of the US.
If you're actually just trying to coax people into abandoning democracy on a philosophical level by pointing to the US's captured and neutered democracy, you're no better than the people in power right now who are doing the same thing to their own ends.
Sanders will talk about addressing those things then tell us we need to support the people enabling those things. He's a sheepdog. Where's this version of Bernie been hiding the last 4 years? All this populous talk ended right after he asked us to vote for his good buddy Biden. Now that he doesn't need to protect a committee chair seat he's come out of hibernation.
Sanders has literally had a consistent message of beliefs since the 1960s. I don't agree with every tactic he chooses, but I understand why he backed Biden over Trump once he was locked out of the general.
If you can show me some progress you or anyone else has made on getting those things (e.g. universal healthcare) through alternative means, I'd be very interested to see it. Republicans are at this point straight evil. The Democratic Party at a leadership level is a bunch of entrenched wealthy neolibs who would rather see Republicans win than lose ground to actual progressives like Sanders, AOC, etc.
People believing that that makes the 2 parties the same thing, are either so bought into their own defeatist nihilism that they can't recognize anything but instant and total victory as progress, or they're intentionally trying to torpedo change via democratic means (maybe to validate their beliefs that they know the "proper fix" without actually having to actually have those preferred systems tested).
Sanders is inside the party, using his platform and the broad dissatisfaction post-election to push the party leadership. He's literally striking while the iron's hot. If you see that as a negative thing, or if that makes you doubt him, I don't know what to tell you.
The nationwide free breakfast program for students was created directly in response to the black panthers free breakfast program. Prefiguring a better society through direct action and political education has proven more effective than engaging in electoral politics.
SBP (which is only one relatively small and highly means-tested example) was passed by elected politicians. BPP didn't put it in place themselves, elected politicians in office who were in favor of it used the opportunity of national attention to push other elected politicians to pass it. And that is just one of many student food assistance programs, most of which were not passed due to attention created by direct action.
I'm not arguing against direct action, I'm just disputing that it's been "more effective" than other means. The advantages that community action provides are around being highly agile and highly targeted. It can't provide countrywide, uninterrupted assistance programs, because no community groups have the resources necessary for that. The BPP could never have provided free lunches for students nationwide by themselves, and they didn't want or attempt to.