NPR’s Leila Fadel speaks with Sen. Bernie Sanders about his book, “Fight Oligarchy,” which argues oligarchic economic and political control has left millions of Americans struggling.
…
FADEL: This book is a pocket-size version of a tour called Fight Oligarchy that you went on in mostly Republican or a lot of Republican leaning districts. And it is a call to action. You call for political revolution. But what does that look like for Americans who are watching more and more violent ICE raids, these flurry of court decisions over what President Trump is doing or not doing, a government shutdown, a deadlock in Washington? That can feel very helpless for Americans who have no control over Washington and politicians here.
SANDERS: I think you hit the nail on the head. I think people are feeling helpless, deeply worried about the future and whether their kids will have an even lower standard of living than they do, and they want to know what we can do. And when I talk about the political revolution, it’s - yes, it means, very importantly getting involved in the political process. But it’s not just being involved in, quote-unquote, “political activities.” We’re seeing at the grassroots level, if not at Washington, at the grassroots level, a lot of union organizing. You can stand up and form a union. If you’re worried about the quality of education that your kids are getting, get involved now. Work with the teachers. Improve education. We are a nation that, by and large, believes in democracy, believes in justice, understands that climate change is not a hoax but an existential threat to our world. So the message is break out of your comfort zone, do what you didn’t do yesterday, and get involved in one way or another.
It’s the same thing he’s be saying for 50 years… we came so very very close to finally listening in 2016…
If the Progressives are serious this time, they need to create demands and be prepared to give orders to their followers to physically force the change that is required.
There’s not going to be a way for us to vote in a better future. The time to do that was < 2016.
It is going to require orginized violence, and the only people in a position to maintain that unity and messaging are like 3 big name Progressives.
Seven years of power
The corporation claw
The rich control the government, the media, the law
To make some kind of difference
Then everyone must know
Eradicate the fascists, revolution will growThe system we learn says we’re equal under law
But the streets are reality, the weak and poor will fall
Let’s tip the power balance and tear down their crown
Educate the masses, we’ll burn the White House down
Speak to me the pain you feelI’m all for it.
Work with the teachers. Improve education.
It’s not the teachers that are the problem.
There are a huge number of people who are employed as teachers in 'Murica who should not have any influence on developing minds
Weren’t there huge pushes in red states to fill the gaps in teaching by hiring [unqualified] people with military or other experience (read: conservative)? Then Texas had a scandal where a few trained teachers were taking the yearly tests for thousands of other teachers. Lots of fuckery going on there. I’d assume many red states have emulated this pattern.
They don’t want the people to be smart or knowledgeable
They merely want them educated enough to be useful enough to make someone else a profit
They don’t want the people to be smart or knowledgeable.
Bingo, but this is not anything new. “The company taught us all the rules On how to work with spinnin’ spools So the bosses son could drive a big black sedan The company owned the houses And the company owned the grammar school You’ll never see an educated cotton mill man”
Totally true. Every once in a while we get a report from one of our kids that a teacher has said or done something off color. 95% are fine and just teach, some are good at it, but every once in a while some nutter can’t contain their Reich Wing and says something political or dogwhistle bigoted. Or has secondary characteristics like raggedy- or blue line flag stickers on their car.
True, but also the schools themselves purchasing curriculums that focus less on actual education and more on making test scores higher is a huge issue.
The issue is that they are driven to do so by the way funding is structured. I’ve never met a teacher that actually likes it this way.
I couldn’t agree more
Sanders has to be one of the most straightforward and real people in congress. This is who he is, and he’s come full circle in his lifetime.
Why did he look like Hank green
This is TERRORISM (under NSPM-7!)!
😱
