Bernie Sanders Rutgers Rally Response (05/08/2016)

Bernie Sanders Rutgers Rally Response (05/08/2016)

Bernie Sanders, the hopeful presidential candidate, gave a rally at the athletic center at Rutgers University. It is common for potential candidates to give the people what they want, and since the days of the Roman Republic, demagogues have dominated the political ring, and coincidentally, so have disappointments and tyrants. But, there always has remained a minority that stuck to their beliefs, and were convinced of their moral values. Yet these people, who, maybe blindly followed true north of their moral compasses, paying no heed to the valleys and deserts and chasms that lie in the way of their destination, tend to be widely contested and assassinated, with their accomplishments overthrown by the majority that subsequently rules once this futile minority is disposed of. The greedy patricians of Rome, who lived along Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, run among us even today.

“Wage Slavery” is a term made popular by Upton Sinclair, who referred to it when paying witness to the deplorable conditions of immigrant workers in his early twentieth century novel, The Jungle. Bernie Sanders promises to raise the minimum wage of the workers of America to fifteen dollars an hour, perceiving a continuation of enslavement of hard working people by rich, self-aggrandizing capitalists who concentrate earned profits and all of the means of production that laborers utilize to themselves. This perception is valid, as it is self-evident that there lies a humungous wealth disparity among people, and that the enormous profits and infinite bounty of America seems to lie in the gaze of, but avoid the grasp of, so many working Americans, with rich capitalists funding political parties and politicians, and utilizing the money that is so powerful in a capitalist system to accomplish whatever they need, which is done most efficiently by “enslaving” the people and detaching the electorate from the legislature. 

 

A nagging question on this utopian view is: how exactly does he plan to correct this travesty? If he raises taxes tremendously on the rich, they will most likely move elsewhere, to a place like Singapore, where the politics and legislation suit their needs. If the wages are hiked without any structural readjustment, many small businesses will collapse out of debt/lack of profit, and the oligarchy that rules over America, that this wage hike serves to fight against, will ironically be ever strengthened. Will he tax the everyday man more? If so, this defeats the purpose of the wage hike, as the extra money given to them will simply be taken away again, resulting in a perpetual loop accomplishing nothing but a pointless circulation of currency.

Another method of combating the oligarchy of industry in America is, to Bernie, to break up the banks on Wall Street that control all of the assets; that robbed the workers of America and concentrated wealth to fuel a positive feedback loop of control, enforced subservience, and disparity. But the question arises again: How does he plan to do this? It is a question unaddressed, not only by Bernie, but by his supporters as well. This shall serve to apply to a broader idea of socialism in America, culture, and human nature. 

 

The apathy of the supporters towards the means of achieving such desirable goals speaks volumes about humanity. It is desirable to put the blame on something else, and claim oneself as a helpless victim. This behavior is common to everyone, from kids on a playground to old politicians. It is desirable to have power, and yet do nothing to achieve it, just as many people dream of being rich while doing nothing to become rich, or just as people wish to be a virtuoso at an instrument while avoiding practice. This results in a massive obsession with, and unceasing dreaming of, fame, fortune, and prodigious ability; something that serves our base instincts of recognition and talent, without having to actually work for it. It is also desirable to have freedom without consequence; to be able to do whatever one wants without there having to be any possibility of anything going wrong, or of anything being a bad decision.

The people who support Bernie want to take Wall Street and the unstoppable banks down. They blame them for their economic woe and their perpetual misfortune. Yet, there is no reflection on how to take the power away, how to distribute it amongst the people, and what other plan there is and how to manage it themselves. There is no reflection on how the economic mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility of the people themselves, and how they throw their money to the giant banks and corporations the fight against, deciding that they absolutely need to have an iPhone and live in Manhattan while making a salary that simply doesn’t support their plan. There is no reflection on personal negligence given when one goes to a college that is absolutely unaffordable, for the sake of the “experience”, and then bemoaning their massive student debt. The first step towards reformation is to reflect on the causes of the problem, and to realize that the blame shouldn’t be put all on one entity, but on everyone involved. This lack of reflection itself reflects the foresight that is clouded by idealism and hope that, while healthy and admirable, is destructive, and unfortunately, comfortably easy.

But say that the people do claim their power. History says that within a decade or two, they shall give it back, and the cycle will continue perpetually. Oliver Cromwell took England by storm in the civil war in the seventeenth century, and he claimed power from the monarchy and gave it to the people. After twelve years of democracy, Cromwell and his reformation were overthrown, and he was personally drawn, hanged, and quartered, and the monarchy was reinstated. Human civilization was founded for the purpose of sacrificing absolute freedom and responsibility for the purposes of comfort and cooperation. The men before civilization were the freest men who ever lived, and yet they founded civilization and utilized a division of labor system, so as to distribute responsibility. Life, as Thomas Hobbes put it was “short, brutal, and barbaric” before civilization, and the concentration of power and responsibility for their own lives unto a small congregation of men was happily practiced by men who founded and continued civilization. But, as the insatiable human spirit goes on, man now wants control of everything over his own life, and to take back power. This is evident not only in today’s world, with Bernie’s suprising momentum, Jeremy Corbyn’s rise in England, and the Arab Spring, but all through human history from the founding of civilization, since the populace of Rome and the overthrow of the kingdom, and the perpetual revolutions in the Fertile Crescent during the sunrise of civilization.

So it is evident that people want freedom, but they don’t want responsibility. They want control, but no consequences. Their paradoxical and impossible goals results in a perpetual dissatisfaction and cyclical struggle for power. Give a man something for free, he will slumber and become lazy. Make him pay for it, he shall complain of the extortion racket that fuels society. Give a man power, he shall complain of responsibility and give it right back. Take his power away, and he shall riot and complain of his lack of freedom and the inherent liberty of the human spirit.

And so, given the nature of humanity displayed through their history, it can be concluded that the redistribution of power from a large entity towards the masses is a futile desire guided by the insatiable human will, and that it will result in another redistribution in the future, resulting in zero progress. Freedom without consequence and power without responsibility are the pointless and everlasting desires of man in civilization, and they persist even today, and manifest themselves in all of the policies of Bernie Sanders. His campaign is a reincarnation of this immortal spirit everpresent in the world of man.

But, however awkward and “stuck in” this may seem, this idealism is admirable, and truly serves as the only purpose of man (to serve himself and succeed). His ethical tenacity and honesty are unparalleled in the political world, and his previously unforeseeable success proves that human beings can still hope and try to make the world a better place, which, if they’re not doing, makes them absolutely and utterly pointless(even more so than they already are). Human beings are designed to be destructive and insatiable, and so as long as that is used for a constructive and selfless purpose…