This is it in a nutshell. The power of negotiating has to be done right in order for us to get bigger changes in policy in place, otherwise it will be very small, tiny steps that addresses nothing while the storm is raging outside. To quell the storm, we need to produce actual changes by starting from a strong position, rather from the middle position.
For instance, we start with a $15 minimum wage, and we negotiate it in Congress. It will end up being $12 dollars. And if we start with a $12 minimum wage, negotiate it in Congress, and it ends up being $10 dollars. That is not a living wage. That is a starvation wage. It is a poverty wage. A wage that keeps the poor poor, us taxpayers paying for them while corporations refuse to lift wages or pay their fair share of taxes.
We need to dream big, and then realistically arrive in the middle. By dreaming big, putting out the strongest policies, marshaling support for them, and then we compromise in an area where it actually benefits us, and shifts the Overton window to our side.
But, but, but, but — what about Congress?
Good question. As long as we have a Republican-controlled Congress, they will stall any proposed legislation from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. And that’s the truth of it.
What we need to do is to use the storm raging outside, the one that is not content with what we have, the storm that wants more, and needs to feel at peace with a better environment, and aim it at Congress. Marches, phone calls, and getting out the vote operations to throw out the useless bums who contribute nothing of value to the middle class.
That is where the real power for change comes from. Bernie Sanders gets it.
