The 40% Against The 1%

Looking at the title, you might think that I'm not very good at mathematics. And you'd be right. You might think that it's actually the 99% against the 1%, and you wouldn't be wrong about that either. Still, in reaction to Bernie Sanders now officially endorsing Joe Biden, I'd like to make the case for the 40%...

_{source: Public Domain Pictures}

Here's a statistic you don't hear every day: over the past decades, roughly 40% of Americans do not vote. Another remarkable statistic: roughly 40% of Americans don't identify as either Republican or Democrat. So the income divide between the people who benefit by keeping the current neoliberal status quo alive, is 1% beneficiaries against 99% disenfranchised. But the political divide doesn't reflect this economic reality at all; 60% of Americans who are in fact part of the 99% vote for Republicans or Democrats, and thereby give their consent to the continued existence of the status quo, knowingly or unknowingly. Mostly unknowingly is my guess. Are the 40% who stay at home enthusiastically voicing their opposition against the status quo? Some of them are, I'm sure, but most are just so disappointed by politics and what politicians have done for them, that they've just given up. Another factor here is that the 1% have been very successful in making it very difficult to vote; it's in their interest to discourage people from participating in the democracy. Bernie Sanders' campaign was successful in activating that disillusioned and disenfranchised 40%, gaining much of the young voters, independents and working people who normally would have stayed home. Sanders' campaign showed that this 40% is the real opposition to the 1%. Sort of.

Today the inevitable happened; after suspending his campaign, Bernie has officially endorsed Biden as the Democratic nominee for the November presidential elections against Donald Trump. This was bound to happen and should come as no surprise because it's what Sanders said he would do from the very first day of his campaign, just like he did in 2016 when he worked so hard to get Hillary Clinton elected in her race against Trump, who Bernie already identified as the most dangerous candidate in American history; the Democrats lost that election so now Trump is the most dangerous president in American History. Or so they say. From the perspective of the 40%, the ones that could give the Democrats the win against Trump, the fear of 4 more years of Trump should be weighed against almost a half century of politics from both sides that has completely forgotten about them. Trump being a possible existential threat has to be compared with the certain existential threat represented by many decades of status quo politics.

Like I said in previous posts, I won't judge anyone either way (as if anyone would care ;-)); there are strong arguments for casting an anti Trump vote by voting for Biden as well because there are real differences between the two. And that goes for Bernie as well. I won't deny that I'm ultimately disappointed in Bernie endorsing Biden, especially now that he has done so much earlier than he did in 2016. But Bernie is faced with the same dilemma, and he has always said, in perfect harmony with the Democratic party establishment, that his number one priority is removing Trump from the White House. I think that's a mistake; Trump is a symptom of this diseased moment in time and he'll be replaced, possibly by an even worse candidate, if that disease isn't treated. Joe Biden is that disease. And the Democratic party elite has already won now that they've defeated their real enemy. You see, Sanders was the one they had to beat as Sanders was the only real threat to the status quo that has served them so well. Sure, they'd like to win the election in November, but even if Trump wins they'll get to keep their power, keep the corporate donations, and have 4 more years of playing the opposition and raising funds. Trump is no threat to them, the 40% that were politically activated through Sanders' campaign for the 99%, they were the real threat. The fact that in Biden they've pushed forward the most weak candidate imaginable, and the fact that they did so only at the very last moment when all their other candidates failed, is solid proof of them not caring about 4 more years of Trump.

The most disturbing thing about all of this is that, should Biden lose against Trump, Bernie Sanders and the 40% will be blamed for it. Sanders can endorse and do 1000 rallies to try to convince people to vote for Joe and against Trump; it won't matter if Biden is defeated, as they'll just repeat what they did after Hillary lost in 2016. They'll blame Sanders and they'll blame the voters, anyone but themselves. So if you're an American of legal voting age, my advice to you is to vote where your heart's at, but don't vote either way because of what you think others might say to you , or accuse you of.

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