Friday, July 03, 2015

Meeting expectations in an irrational society is the definition of insanity

By Richard Barry

I don't mean to be unkind to Jenna Johnson, a writer for the Washington Post, and there really is no need to be as she is simply following convention when she writes about Bernie Sanders and the things he advocates for on the campaign trail, most recently in Madison, Wisconsin.
Bernie Sanders stood before 10,000 screaming fans in this liberal college town on Wednesday night and promised to fulfill all of their progressive dreams: paid vacation for all, generous maternity leave, tuition-free public colleges, a minimum wage of $15, no more big banks, less youth unemployment, dramatic prison reform and an end to economic inequality.

There it is. No matter how reasonable this list of policy aspirations may appear to many of us, it is but a progressive dream, an unattainable fantasy existing only in the minds of those who don't really know how the world works. 

But Senator Sanders is undeterred:
“Please, think big, not small,” Sanders said. “Our vision should be that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world there is nothing that we cannot accomplish."

Bernie Sanders' campaign is catching fire because people are tired of being told what is possible and what is not. Why shouldn't we fight for things that make sense?

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2 Comments:

  • Also: Sanders wasn't promising those things. That pushes a very dangerous (but common) idea that politicians promise the impossible and then don't deliver. Politicians are generally very smart about their promises. Sanders isn't a fool. These things will be his priorities, but he will need a very different Congress (and even Supreme Court) to accomplish them. Easy cynicism is one of the biggest impediments to change.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 2:54 PM  

  • Yes, but even to talk about them in a serious way is deemed foolishness.

    By Blogger Richard K. Barry, at 4:10 PM  

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